Jeddah: Muslims in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate (UAE) will celebrate Eid Al Fitr on Sunday as Shawal moon has not been sighted in the kingdom on Saturday.

According to the authorities, the moon-sighting committees had not not received any evidence, the Muslim festival would be celebrated in Saudi Arabia and UAE on Sunday.

A noted UAE astronomer had predicted last week that Eid Al Fitr will fall on Sunday 19th August.

Astronomy researcher and General Superviser of the Sharjah Planetarium Ibrahim Jarwan insisted that calculations showed that the crescent moon marking the beginning of the month of Shawwal will rise on Friday 17th August at 7.54pm. As the moonrise takes place 65 minutes after the sunset on that day, it will be impossible to see it because it will not be there on the horizon.

The ideal time to watch the crescent moon ranges between 10 to 30 minutes after the sunset on a day, explained Al Jarwan.

Thus Saturday will be the 30th day that completes the month of Ramadan, and the crescent will be visible on the horizon 17 minutes after the sunset, he added.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman have already declared 10-day Eid holidays.

Muslims in other Gulf Arab countries are still waiting for announcement from their respective moon sighting committees. Most of Arab countries celebrate Eid on the same day.

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