For centuries, the sighting of a crescent moon has marked the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and prayer for Muslims.
This year, the spectacle was obscured in some parts of the world by the sun’s glare during the total solar eclipse, delaying some Islamic communities’ declaration of Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of fasting. Although only a narrow swath of North America experienced a total eclipse, the phenomenon reduced visibility of the Moon elsewhere, experts said.
“It’s about timing,” said Dr. Diana Hannikainen, observing editor at Sky & Telescope magazine in Cambridge, Mass.
“A lunar crescent that is only a few hours on the day of the eclipse would be impossible to detect,” he said.
In Kerala, a state in southern India, the new moon was spotted on Tuesday but was not visible in the capital New Delhi, so Muslim communities in India will celebrate Eid a day apart.
In Saudi Arabia, a start to religious holidays for many Muslims, the government called on all Muslims across the kingdom to look for the crescent moon on Monday. When he failed to appear, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday that Eid would be celebrated from Wednesday.
The eclipse showed the new moon, but the crescent the imams were looking for would not become visible in the Middle East and Asia with the naked eye until the following evening.
Countries with large Muslim populations, and Muslims around the world, use the traditional Hijri calendar to mark religious events. Each month of this calendar begins with the sighting of the early crescent moon and the holy month of Ramadan begins at the beginning of the ninth month.
Eid is traditionally celebrated on the day after the appearance of a new moon, either with the naked eye or through a telescope. According to the European Fatwa and Research Council, the moon must appear at sunset, at least five degrees above the horizon.
Because the crescent moon can be difficult to see and its position above the horizon can be difficult to calculate independently, some Muslim communities rely on a calculation method, according to Basharat Saleem, executive director of the Islamic Society of North America.
“In the old days, and still in some parts of the world, people moon-sighted, looked to be able to see it visually,” Mr Saleem said. “Today with calculations and precise measurements, it has become easier.”
These customs go back centuries. But the exact timing of Ramadan varies from place to place because it depends on a number of factors, such as who observes the moon and how, and whether the sky is clear or cloudy at the time.
While some Muslim communities rely on the sighting of the Moon, others use a lunar calendar to determine when Ramadan begins and ends.
The Islamic Society of North America, a non-profit organization based in Plainfield, Ind., and one of the largest Islamic organizations in the United States, follows NASA’s lunar calendar, which also means we celebrate Eid on Wednesday.
“We know the moon is visible without having to see it,” said Muhammad Safder, a board member of Masjid al-Taqwa in Indianapolis, a city that fell into the eclipse’s narrow path on Monday.
As Central Indiana plunged into darkness during the solar eclipse, Mr. Safder and about 60 others entered the mosque for a special prayer.
According to the Hadith, the holy Islamic text, there was an eclipse around the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s son, Ibrahim.
The prophet reassured followers that the eclipse did not cause Ibrahim’s death, but was simply a “miracle of God” for which he recommended a prayer, Mr. Safder said.
“It was kind of dark all of a sudden,” Mr. Safder said of the eclipse. “As we finished the prayer, it seemed as if the morning was beginning. It was spiritually uplifting, especially when we were fasting.”
