Wednesday, October 10, 2007

No lunar vision this Eid!

Surprisingly, it has just been announced that Eid Al-Fitr in Oman will be on Saturday the 13th of October, inshallah. It's the first time they announce the Eid's day on the 28th of Ramadhan. The lunar vision committee usually holds a meeting on the 29th of Ramadhan and then declares if the next day will be the 30th of Ramadhan or the 1st of Shawal (Eid). However, this year, it's a bit different. The committee has just announced that this year they are not holding a meeting on the 29th of Ramadhan (tomorrow) and they are not going to receive any statements from citizens regarding the lunar vision. Why? Because some astronomers said that the new moon of Shawal will disappear before sunset on the 29th of Ramadhan and as a result, it will 100% be invisible & impossible to see. Hence, the committee of lunar vision will not receive any statements regarding this so that they don't get any statements contradicting with what the astronomers have stated. That's a bit weird & unusual.

In short, tomorrow after Iftar don't wait for the committee's final statement on Oman TV like every year, because this year the statement has already been announced a day earlier than usual, and even without holding the usual meeting they hold before Ramadhan & the two Eids. Happy Eid everyone!

5 comments:

Blue Chi said...

Yeah, heard this on the radio. I really wanted Eid to be on Friday.

Sleepless In Muscat said...

Its because the moon would have been cited at sometime 9am this morning (This Thursday) therefore, it wouldn't be visible due the naked eye. So they went ahead with the plan

Al Nims Media said...

Eid Mubarak to all bloggers.

Amjad said...

blue chi: So did I! lol.

sleepless: yes, I am aware of that. but isn't it weird that Oman this time is depending on astronomy? They've never depended on astronomy and have always gathered for the moon sighting no matter what.

Kishor: Thanks buddy! :)

muscati said...

They've been increasingly relying on astronomy in the past few years and hinting at this. I'm glad they did this. I hope they do this for all eids from now on. Let's top the lunar siting charade and just go for this. This system makes perfect sense, it uses science in a way that does not contradict with the quran. If we were going by pure astronomical science then Eid would be on Friday. However the quran tells us that the new moon has to be seen by the human eye. Therefore, since it will not be possible to actually see the new moon on Thursday Eid becomes Saturday.

Perfect.