The first sighting of this week’s crescent Moon will trigger the end of Ramadan and the start of the three-day feasting festival of Eid al-Fitr (the “festival of breaking the fast”).
end in 2023? The month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan will this year finish on either Thursday, April 20 or Friday, April 21, 2023 and signal the beginning of Eid Al-Fitr.The exact dates of months in the Islamic calendar are tied to the movements of the Moon, with the first sighting of the next crescent Moon the trigger for the end of Ramadan and the start of the three-day feasting festival of Eid al-Fitr .
However, this particular New Moon—occurring on April 20—is rather special because it also causes a “hybrid” total solar eclipse in the southern hemisphere.Muslims call this auspicious crescent Moon the “Shawwal Moon” because it occurs in the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, which is based on the phases of the Moon. Its sighting begins Eid Al-Fitr.
The “Shawwal Moon” can come just a few hours after the astronomical New Moon. During the New Moon our satellite is lost in the glare of the Sun and completely invisible, but as it creeps from between Sun and Earth it’s limb becomes visible. When it emerges briefly in the west just after sunset as a super-slim crescent and, crucially, is sighted, it’s the “Shawwal Moon.”
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