As Maldives marks the 29th of Ramadan on Monday, authorities and citizens around the country are preparing to catch sight of the new moon of Shawwal month tomorrow night.
In the Islamic calendar, the new moon for the next month appears after sunset on the 29th day. If the moon is not sighted in the sky that night, the next month will begin after completing 30 days of a month.
As such, if authorities are able to see the moon tomorrow, the month of Ramadan will end and the next day will mark the first of Shawwal, the occasion of Eid-al-Fitr. However, if the moon is not sighted tomorrow, Eid will fall on 10 April. As of now, calculations show that moonrise and moonset will occur tomorrow before the setting of the sun in this region, making it unlikely that the Shawwal moon will be sighted in the skies above Maldives.
The new moon will occur tomorrow at 11:20pm local time with the moon forecasted to rise in Male' at 5:30am and set at 5:57pm, which is 19 minutes before sunset for Maldives tomorrow. At the very north of Maldives in Haa Alif atoll Thuraakunu, moonset will occur at 6pm on Monday, with Addu and Gan at the southernmost tip of the country having moonset forecasted for 5:56pm.
According to these calculations, the new moon will set more than 15 minutes before sunset tomorrow across all parts of the Maldives. As the Islamic faith considers the start of the new month to coincide with the sighting of the new moon in the sky after sunset, under these conditions, Monday will mark the 30th day of Ramadan for Maldives.
In Saudi Arabia where the start of Ramadan was marked on the same day as it was for Maldives, moonset is expected at 6:26pm, which is about 11 minutes before sunset in the region. As such, the moon is not expected to be visible in the sky over Mecca tomorrow after the setting of the sun.
The moon will set in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at 6:26 pm. It was there about 11 minutes before sunset. So even for Mecca, the moon is not shown to be on the water at sunset tomorrow. In the north, Turkey will also see the new moon tomorrow, but the moon will set about 12 minutes before sunset. Morocco, the westernmost Islamic country, will also see the moonset three minutes before sunset tomorrow.
Elsewhere in Indonesia, the largest Islamic population and the easternmost and southernmost country in the Islamic world began the month of Ramadan on 12 March, one day later than Maldives and other regions. As such, they will be marking the 28th night of Ramadan on Monday. The new moon will appear over Indonesia on Tuesday at 1:20pm and will set half an hour after sunset on the 29th day of Ramadan in the region, marking the next day as Eid-al-Fitr.
Indonesia, the easternmost and southernmost country in the Islamic world home to the largest number of Muslims in one place, began the month of Ramadan one day later than Maldives on March 12. So tomorrow is the 28th of Ramadan for the country and the moon will not be seen on that day. The new moon will be born on April 9 at 1:20 pm. The moon will set half an hour after sunset and will be visible in the sky after the call to Maghreb. So it is believed that this will be a 29-day fasting month for Indonesia.
The start of the month of Shawwal can only be declared if the new moon is visible in the sky after sunset on Monday. As calculations point to moonset occurring well before sunset in all parts of the country, it is very likely that Maldives will mark Eid-al-Fitr on Wednesday as currently marked in the calendars.
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