The Hawtah Observatory, Sudhir in Saudi Arabia say the moon crescent for the holy month of Ramadan has been sighted in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday.
Arabic daily Al Riyadh disclosed this
Earlier, a tweet by the Astronomy Center stated that the moon was photographed on Thursday at 12:02 pm from Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah.
The UAE moon sighting committee are meeting after the Maghrib prayer Thursday evening to officially announce the beginning of the holy month, which is expected to begin on April 24 (Friday) in the UAE.
However, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who is also President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and leader of the Muslim Community in Nigeria is expected to announce when Ramadan will commence in the country.
Meanwhile, many Twitter users have disclosed that they await the official announcement from the Sultan on when the Ramadan would start in Nigeria.
“We await the official pronouncement from the Sultan of Sokoto; May Allah blesses us this Ramadan.
“In Islam, you need to get verification from more than one o before doing anything except it’s from the supreme source. Prophet Muhammad (saw) is the only supreme source. Our supreme source is Sultan of Sokoto, and he hasn’t said anything.
“Waiting for the Sultan of Sokoto to make the announcement, lockdown just got better. Ramadan Kareem.”
The Sultan had earlier urged Muslim to shun public gathering and pray in their respective homes given the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.