Saudi Arabia calls on Muslims to sight Dhu al-Hijjah crescent moon
The official Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday (June 27) Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has called on all Muslims in the Kingdom to sight the Dhu al-Hijjah crescent moon on Wednesday (June 29) evening.
The sighting of the moon marks the beginning of the Dhu al-Hijjah Islamic month in which the Hajj pilgrimage is performed followed by Eid al-Adha.
The Supreme Court requested those who sight the moon, whether through the bare eye or through telescopes, to report to the nearest court and register their testimony.
The Muslim religion follows a lunar calendar which comprises of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. Sighting a crescent moon heralds the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, which falls on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan.
One of the five pillars of Islam, Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every Muslim must make at least once in their lifetime if they are able to.
Eid al-Adha marks the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage) rites at Minā, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca, but is celebrated by Muslims throughout the world.
During Eid al-Adha, families that can afford to sacrifice a ritually acceptable animal (sheep, goat, camel, or cow) do so and then divide the flesh equally among themselves, the poor, and friends and neighbours.
This festival commemorates the ransom with a ram of the biblical patriarch Abraham’s son Ishmael—rather than Isaac, as in Judeo-Christian tradition.