New Delhi: Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan, will be celebrated in the country on Monday as the moon was sighted this evening.
Fatehpuri Masjid Imam Mufti Mukarram Ahmad told a news agency that the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of the mosque contacted many places and was informed that the moon was sighted at several places.
Eid will be celebrated in the country on March 31, Monday, he said.
Describing Eid as a festival of brotherhood and harmony, Ahmad said, “On this occasion, we pray that brotherhood and harmony in the country continues to prosper and is strengthened with love.”
In Jammu and Kashmir, Grand Mufti Nasirul Islam said that the festival will be celebrated on Monday as the crescent moon was sighted at many places in the Union territory. “Reports of moon sightings have been received from various parts including Srinagar,” the Grand Mufti told reporters in Srinagar.
Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated across the world on different days and it is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon which is supposed to denote the start of the Shawwal month in the lunar Islamic calendar.
Meanwhile, Muslim organisation Imarat-e-Shariah-Hind also issued a statement confirming the sighting of the Eid moon in different parts of the country including in the national capital.
The statement quoted Maulana Najibullah Qasmi, secretary of the organization’s Ruat-e-Hilal Committee (Moon Committee), as saying that it is announced that the “month of Shawwal will start from Monday, March 31 and special prayers of Eid-ul-Fitr will be offered tomorrow morning”.
Meanwhile, Shahi Jama Masjid Imam Syed Shaban Bukhari said in a video shared on social media that the moon of the Islamic month of Shawwal was sighted in different parts of the country on Sunday, hence it is announced that Eid-ul-Fitr is on Monday.
Head of prominent Muslim organization Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Maulana Arshad Madani, in a post on Facebook, greeted people on Eid and said he prays that Allah makes this Eid “an opportunity to remove differences and promote the spirit of tolerance and love among us”.
This year the month of Ramzan was 29 days, while last year it was 30 days.
According to the Islamic calendar, there are 29 or 30 days in a month, depending on the sighting of the moon. During the month of Ramzan, people do not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset.