By Gbadamosi Oladimeji
The 2020 Eid-el-fitr will hold on Sunday as fasting during the month of Ramadan will end on Saturday.
The National Moon Sighting Committee of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Abuja, disclosed this in a tweet on Friday.
“There was no positive sighting report of the Shawwal crescent in Nigeria, tomorrow is 30th Ramadan. An official statement from the Sultanate will be released shortly,” the tweet read.
The Sultanate Council Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs further confirmed this in a statement.
Eid el-Fitr celebrations follow the sighting of the crescent moon, ending the holy month of Ramadan and the dawn-to-dusk fasting of millions of Muslims.
Meanwhile, the sighting committee in the Tumair observatory in Saudi Arabia, said the crescent moon has not been sighted on Friday night..
Muslims accross the globe follows a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days, and Sighting a crescent moon heralds the start of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month.
According to the United Arab Emirate ( UAE) based International Astronomical Center said last week their calculations estimated this coming Sunday, May 24, would likely be the first day of Eid al-Fitr across most Islamic countries in the world.
“Friday, May 22, will mark the 29th day of Ramadan in most Islamic countries that started Ramadan on Friday, April 24. For these countries, sighting the crescent on that day is impossible from all countries of the Islamic world, because of the moon will set before the sun and due to the pairing (of the crescent’s birth) after sunset,” said IAC chairman Mohammed Odeh in a statement.
More than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world marked Ramadan this year, during which believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and having marital relations from dawn until sunset. They also try to avoid evil thoughts and deeds.
