Abdullah Al-Khudairi, an astronomer, religious scholar and member of the local Sighting of the Crescent Committee of Saudi Arabia claimed that Crescent Moon can been seen in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries on Thursday due to favorable atmosphere conditions.
He emphasized that the astronomical conditions surrounding the process of investigating the crescent of the month of Shawwal are considered good for seeing the crescent, but the weather factors surrounding the investigation process may favor vision.
Al-Khudairi stressed that the state of controversy that we are living now was repeated previously, and the crescent was seen in more difficult astronomical conditions, with a younger age and a shorter stay period than the one we will live on Thursday.
Al-Faki Al-Khudairi indicated that the crescent stays “on the evening of Thursday, after sunset at the Majmaah University Astronomical Observatory site for 24 minutes, and the observation of the crescent depends on the factor of the purity of the atmosphere, while on the first Friday of Shawwal, mathematically, the crescent will stay 85 Minutes after sunset, and seen from inside the cities.
He said that it is true that it is not possible to see the moon due to the solar eclipse in some countries on Thursday, but this solar eclipse will not be visible in the Arab world and will be in Southeast Asia, Australia and the Indian Ocean.
In this regard, the International Astronomical Center has claimed that there is no possibility of Shawwal moon sighting on Thursday, 29th of Ramadan, so Eid-ul-Fitr can be on Saturday, April 22.
This prediction is based on astronomical information and the date of Eid will be confirmed by the concerned authorities based on the sighting of the new moon.
In this context, it has been said that it is not possible to see the moon on Thursday with open eyes from anywhere in the Arab countries and the Islamic world.
In most Arab countries except parts of West Africa starting from Libya, it is not possible to see the moon through telescopes on Thursday, and so it is most likely that Eid-ul-Fitr will be on Saturday.