Ramadan will begin on Monday, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE announce, with the Muslim holy fasting month taking place against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam’s holiest sites, says through its official SPA news agency that the Supreme Court had announced “Monday, March 11, 2024, the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan for this year.”
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar also announced the start date for Ramadan through their own official news outlets after the sighting of the crescent moon.
Earlier, Iran had set the beginning of Ramadan for Tuesday after its “Estehlal” or moon observation office said it had not been possible to observe “the crescent of Ramadan.”
In Saudi Arabia, the start of the holy month had been cast into doubt after some of the kingdom’s observatories reported that the moon was obscured by “cloudy weather and dust particles”.
But final confirmation of the sighting was given through the Al Majmaah University Astronomical Observatory in Riyadh.
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 10, 2024
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