Eid ul Fitr 2025 announced in Saudi Arabia after 'crescent moon sighted'
Saudi Arabia has announced the date for Eid ul Fitr 2025 after attempts to sight the moon took place at 10 astronomical observatories on Saturday, March 29.
Officials said: "The crescent moon has been sighted in Saudi Arabia. #EidAlFitr will be celebrated on Sunday, 30th March 2025."
This means that Ramadan will end tonight for Saudi citizens and the next month of Shawwal begins, marked by the Eid festivities that celebrate the end of daily fasting.
The neighbouring United Arab Emirates also declared Eid as March 30, but in adjoining Oman, the crescent was not sighted so Eid won't get underway there until Monday, March 31.
READ MORE:
Eid ul Fitr 2025 LIVE moonsighting updates for Saudi Arabia, UK and around world
Eid ul Fitr 2025 date announced in Australia but some will wait for moonsighting
A local TV reporter in Saudi Arabia had earlier said there was only a limited chance to see the moon, explaining: "Many crescent observers expect the Shawwal crescent to remain visible on the horizon for 7 to 8 minutes - a brief window to confirm its presence. Its sighting depends on the clarity of the skies."
One Saudi moonsighting observer, Abdullah Al-Khudairi, told the media: "The disagreement over the possibility of sighting the Shawwal crescent today is not among academic experts, but rather among amateur observers. The sighting today depends on the clarity of the sky.
"The skies are perfectly clear for sighting the Shawwal crescent. There are no difficulties today."
This was in spite of data from astronomers indicating that the moon would not be visible in most parts of the world on Saturday.
However, Saudi Arabia had already marked Sunday as the start of Eid, and many believed it would declare a sighting that matched its predetermined national calendar of dates.
The New Crescent Society had predicted a surprise sighting seemed likely, saying: "It looks like we are heading into another split Eid this year, though we will know for sure this weekend. This year is very controversial, as the split is likely to be caused by an 'impossible' moonsighting in Saudi. Of course, these are simply predictions.
"On Saturday, March 29.... the moon is not scientifically possible to see anywhere in Saudi, the Middle East, Asia, Africa or Europe, even with telescopes.
"Despite this, it is likely Saudi will produce a scientifically 'impossible' moonsighting. These phantom moon sightings are almost annual occurrences and seem to align with their preprinted Umm al Qura calendar - a calendar which does not match lunar visibility."
Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp. Join our dedicated community for the most up-to-date news from across the city.
You can also sign up to our Brummie Muslims newsletter for the latest updates on Ramadan, Eid and key dates throughout the Islamic calendar.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
The decades-old intrigue over an Indian guest house in Mecca
As the annual Hajj pilgrimage draws to a close, a long-settled corner of Mecca is stirring up a storm thousands of miles away in India - not for its spiritual significance, but for a 50-year-old inheritance dispute. At the heart of the controversy is Keyi Rubath, a 19th-Century guest house built in the 1870s by Mayankutty Keyi, a wealthy Indian merchant from Malabar (modern-day Kerala), whose trading empire stretched from Mumbai to Paris. Located near Islam's holiest site, Masjid al-Haram, the building was demolished in 1971 to make way for Mecca's expansion. Saudi authorities deposited 1.4 million riyals (about $373,000 today) in the kingdom's treasury as compensation, but said no rightful heir could be identified at the time. Decades later, that sum - still held in Saudi Arabia's treasury - has sparked a bitter tussle between two sprawling branches of the Keyi family, each trying to prove its lineage and claim what they see as their rightful inheritance. Neither side has succeeded so far. For decades, successive Indian governments - both at the Centre and in Kerala - have tried and failed to resolve the deadlock. It remains unclear if Saudi authorities are even willing to release the compensation, let alone adjust it for inflation as some family members now demand - with some claiming it could be worth over $1bn today. Followers of the case note the property was a waqf - an Islamic charitable endowment - meaning descendants can manage but not own it. The Saudi department that handles Awqaf (endowed properties) did not respond to the BBC's request for comment, and the government has made no public statement on the matter. That hasn't stopped speculation - about both the money and who it rightfully belongs to. Little is known about the guest house itself, but descendants claim it stood just steps from the Masjid al-Haram, with 22 rooms and several halls spread over 1.5 acres. According to family lore, Keyi shipped wood from Malabar to build it and appointed a Malabari manager to run it - an ambitious gesture, though not unusual for the time. Saudi Arabia was a relatively poor country back then - the discovery of its massive oil fields still a few decades away. The Hajj pilgrimage and the city's importance in Islam meant that Indian Muslims often donated money or built infrastructure for Indian pilgrims there. In his 2014 book, Mecca: The Sacred City, historian Ziauddin Sardar notes that during the second half of the 18th Century, the city had acquired a distinctively Indian character with its economy and financial well-being dependent on Indian Muslims. "Almost 20% of the city's inhabitants, the largest single majority, were now of Indian origins – people from Gujarat, Punjab, Kashmir and Deccan, all collectively known locally as the Hindis," Sardar wrote. As Saudi Arabia's oil wealth surged in the 20th century, sweeping development projects reshaped Mecca. Keyi Rubath was demolished three times, the final time in the early 1970s. That's when the confusion around compensation appears to have started. According to BM Jamal, former secretary of India's Central Waqf Council, the Indian consulate in Jeddah wrote to the government back then, seeking details of Mayankutty Keyi's legal heir. "In my understanding, authorities were looking for the descendants to appoint a manager for the property, not to distribute the compensation money," Mr Jamal said. Nonetheless, two factions stepped forward: the Keyis - Mayankutty's paternal family - and the Arakkals, a royal family from Kerala into which he had married. Both families traditionally followed a matrilineal inheritance system - a custom not recognized under Saudi law, adding further complexity. The Keyis claim that Mayankutty died childless, making his sister's children his rightful heirs under matrilineal tradition. But the Arakkals claim he had a son and a daughter, and therefore, under Indian law, his children would be the legal inheritors. As the dispute dragged on, the story took on a life of its own. In 2011, after rumours swirled that the compensation could be worth millions, more than 2,500 people flooded a district office in Kannur, claiming to be Keyi's descendants. "There were people who claimed that their forefathers had taught Mayankutty in his childhood. Others claimed that their forefathers had provided timber for the guest house," a senior Keyi family member, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the BBC. Scams followed. State officials say in 2017 fraudsters posing as Keyi descendants duped locals into handing over money, promising a share of the compensation. Today, the case remains unresolved. Some descendants propose the best way to end the dispute would be to ask the Saudi government to use the compensation money to build another guest house for Hajj pilgrims, as Myankutti Keyi had intended. But others reject this, arguing that the guest house was privately owned, and so any compensation rightfully belongs to the family. Some argue that even if the family proves lineage to Mayankutty Keyi, without ownership documents, they're unlikely to gain anything. For Muhammed Shihad, a Kannur resident who has co-authored a book on the history of the Keyi and Arakkal families, though, the dispute is not just about the money - but about honouring the family's roots. "If they don't get the compensation, it would be worth openly recognising the family's and the region's connection to this noble act."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Gaza marks the start of Eid with outdoor prayers in the rubble and food growing ever scarcer
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes early Friday, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon. With much of Gaza in rubble, men, women and children were forced to hold the traditional Eid al-Adha prayers in the open air and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together for the three-day feast. 'This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,' said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis. 'There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses. ... The conditions are very, very harsh.' The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia. For the second year, Muslims in Gaza were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the traditional pilgrimage. In Gaza City on Friday, Sanaa Al-Ghola, a displaced woman from Shejaiyah, stood in the rubble of a badly damaged graveyard near a partially collapsed mosque. She had come to pray for her son, Mohamed al-Ghoul, who she said was killed in shelling last month after going to his grandfather's house to get flour. His father was wounded in the attack. 'We lost our home, money, and everything," she said, crying as she held her son's photo. 'There is no more Eid after you're gone, my son.' Families at a displacement tent camp in Muwasi faced a grim first day of Eid al-Adha. Tahrir Abu Jazar, 36, of Rafah, warmed up leftover lentils and cooked rice inside her tent, but said she had no bread to feed her five children, who sat on the bare ground nearby. 'There are no Eid celebrations now as there is no new clothes or sacrificial meat, or monetary gifts, or joy,' she said, reminiscing over Eid days before the war when the children had meat. 'My son went out and tried to celebrate Eid and was scared of the warplane, so he came back." Israel issues a new warning In the southern city of Rafah, nine people were killed on their way to try and collect humanitarian aid at various distribution points, according to officials at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis, where the bodies were brought. Eight died from gunshot wounds and the ninth person from shrapnel injuries. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the hospital's claim but said it was looking into the report. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a newly formed group of mainly American contractors that Israel wants to use to replace humanitarian groups in Gaza that distribute aid in coordination with the U.N., told The Associated Press that reports of violence in Rafah were inaccurate and that aid distribution was completed 'peacefully and without incident.' In northern Gaza on Friday, Israel issued a new warning to civilians saying the military was about to undertake intensive operations in an area after it said rockets were fired toward Israel from the sector. Meanwhile, the military said four Israeli soldiers were killed Friday in southern Gaza when an explosive detonated as they searched a Hamas compound in Khan Younis, causing part of a building to collapse. Five soldiers were injured, one seriously, spokesperson Effie Defrin said. The war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages. They are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages from Gaza and recovered dozens of bodies. Since then, Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians in its military campaign, primarily women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. The offensive has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians. UN warns of risk of famine After blocking all food and aid from entering Gaza for more than two months, Israel began allowing a trickle of supplies to enter for the U.N. several weeks ago. But the U.N says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because of Israeli military restrictions on movements and because roads that the military designates for its trucks to use are unsafe and vulnerable to looters. The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said Thursday that Gaza's people are projected to fall into acute food insecurity by September, with nearly 500,000 people experiencing extreme food deprivation, leading to malnutrition and starvation. 'This means the risk of famine is really touching the whole of the Gaza Strip,' Rein Paulson, director of the FAO office of emergencies and resilience, said in an interview. Over the past two weeks, shootings have erupted nearly daily in the Gaza Strip in the vicinity of new hubs where desperate Palestinians are being directed to collect food. Witnesses say nearby Israeli troops have opened fire, and more than 80 people have been killed, according to Gaza hospital officials. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid and trying to block it from reaching Palestinians, and has said soldiers fired warning shots or, in some cases, shot at individuals approaching its troops. The GHF sent out a message on its Facebook site early Friday that it had closed all aid distribution sites until further notice and urged people to stay away for their own safety. It later clarified that the measure was only a temporary pause due to excessive crowding and that the agency had distributed all aid available Friday. Israel's military said that going ahead, distribution sites would be operated from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and that outside those hours, the areas would be considered closed military zones that are strictly off limits. ___ Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Fatma Khaled in Cairo, Paolo Santalucia in Rome and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this story. Wafaa Shurafa, The Associated Press
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Without meat, families in Gaza struggle to celebrate Islam's Eid al-Adha holiday
MUWASI, Gaza Strip (AP) — With the Gaza Strip devastated by war and siege, Palestinians struggled Thursday to celebrate one of the most important Islamic holidays. To mark Eid al-Adha — Arabic for the Festival of Sacrifice — Muslims traditionally slaughter a sheep or cow and give away part of the meat to the poor as an act of charity. Then they have a big family meal with sweets. Children get gifts of new clothes. But no fresh meat has entered Gaza for three months. Israel has blocked shipments of food and other aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. And nearly all the territory's homegrown sheep, cattle and goats are dead after 20 months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives. Some of the little livestock left was on sale at a makeshift pen set up in the vast tent camp of Muwasi in the southern part of Gaza's Mediterranean coast. But no one could afford to buy. A few people came to look at the sheep and goats, along with a cow and a camel. Some kids laughed watching the animals and called out the prayers connected to the holiday. 'I can't even buy bread. No meat, no vegetables,' said Abdel Rahman Madi. 'The prices are astronomical.' The Eid commemorates the test of faith of the Prophet Ibrahim — Abraham in the Bible — and his willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. The day is usually one of joy for children — and a day when businesses boom a bit as people buy up food and gifts. But prices for everything have soared amid the blockade, which was only slightly eased two weeks ago. Meat and most fresh fruits and vegetables disappeared from the markets weeks ago. At a street market in the nearby city of Khan Younis, some stalls had stuffed sheep toys and other holiday knickknacks and old clothes. But most people left without buying any gifts after seeing the prices. 'Before, there was an Eid atmosphere, the children were happy … Now with the blockade, there's no flour, no clothes, no joy,' said Hala Abu Nqeira, a woman looking through the market. 'We just go to find flour for our children. We go out every day looking for flour at a reasonable price, but we find it at unbelievable prices.' Israel's campaign against Hamas has almost entirely destroyed Gaza's ability to feed itself. The U.N. says 96% of the livestock and 99% of the poultry are dead. More than 95% of Gaza's prewar cropland is unusable, either too damaged or inaccessible inside Israeli military zones, according to a land survey published this week by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months. It eased the blockade two weeks ago to allow a trickle of aid trucks in for the U.N. to distribute. The trucks have brought in some food items, mainly flour. But the U.N. says it has struggled to delivery much of the incoming aid because of looting or Israeli military restrictions. Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people have been driven from their homes, and most have had to move multiple times to escape Israeli offensives. Rasha Abu Souleyma said she recently slipped back to her home in Rafah — from which her family had fled to take refuge in Khan Younis — to find some possessions she'd left behind. She came back with some clothes, pink plastic sunglasses and bracelets that she gave to her two daughters as Eid gifts. 'I can't buy them clothes or anything,' the 38-year-old said. 'I used to bring meat in Eid so they would be happy, but now we can't bring meat, and I can't even feed the girls with bread.' Near her, a group of children played on makeshift swings made of knotted and looped ropes. Karima Nejelli, a displaced woman from Rafah, pointed out that people in Gaza had now marked both Eid al-Adha and the other main Islamic holiday, Eid al-Fitr, two times each under the war. 'During these four Eids, we as Palestinians did not see any kind of joy, no sacrifice, no cookies, no buying Eid clothes or anything.' ___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Mohammad Jahjouh And Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press
