Amman, Asharq al-Awsat-The Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS) has announced that the current month of Ramadan will last for 30 days. In a statement for the Crescent”s Observation and Muwaqeet Committee, engineer Mohammed Shawkat Oudah, the committee”s deputy chairman said that he expects Ramadan to last for thirty days this year, as the central conjunction for the month of Shawwal will be on 2 November.

The beginning of Shawwal will be confirmed by looking at the crescent on the 29th night of Ramadan (1st November). He added that it would be impossible for all countries to view the moon as it will not be visible before sunset, only after which the conjunction will take place. Therefore, all countries should end their month of fasting on the Wednesday (2 November) and begin the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations on Thursday (3 November).

As for the countries that began the fasting month on Wednesday, 5 October such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Turkey, Oman, Tunisia and Morocco, they will view the crescent of Shawwal on the 29th night of Ramadan (2 November). It will not be possible to view the moon from all of Asia and Europe and most of Africa and North America; however, it will be seen through a telescope from the far south of Africa and South America only. It is expected that the crescent will hardly be seen by the naked eye from the west of South America but will be easily noticed from the Pacific.

Since it is unlikely that most Arab and Muslim countries will be able to view the crescent on Wednesday, most of these countries will probably complete the fasting month on Thursday, therefore they will not begin the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations until Friday, 4 November.