Ooops! Did They Get Ramadan Wrong?

When is Ramadan? The Muslim world determines this by astronomy. Now some believe that the star-gazers got it wrong.

“The Muslim world is in turmoil over the possibility that it may have misread the skies and mistaken Saturn for the moon when it declared Ramadan and its daily fasting over last week, causing the devout to starting feast a day early.

Sighting of the new moon crescent has always been difficult and a special Hilal panel, or moon-sighting committee, receives testimonies from veteran Muslim moon gazers that in fact the lunar month is over. Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia declared Ramadan ended last Monday August 29 and the three-day Id al-Fitr festivities could begin.

Many nations follow the rulings from Saudi Arabia, but not all of the Muslim world accepted this year’s decision. In Indonesia, there was such doubt that the astronomers and Muslim bodies extended the Ramadan fast for another day and didn’t celebrate the Id until sundown Tuesday.

Saudi and Egyptian astronomers, too, questioned the veracity of the moon sighting and issued a statement saying there was no way it could have been sighted last Monday because it had eclipsed before sunset. If they saw anything, it was the planet Saturn and not the moon, the astronomers said.

In Saudi Arabia, conservativereligious scholars were so galled that their veracity had been questioned they threatened to take legal action for creating the uncertainty, the Saudi-based Arab News reported.”

The full story is here.