Ramadan Starts Saturday, Sunday

Millions of Muslims will celebrate the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on Sunday, June 29, while some Muslim countries and minorities will observe the dawn-to-dusk month a day earlier.

Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, said that the fasting month will start on Sunday, June 29.
Egypt’s Iftaa House said the new moon of Ramadan was not sighted Friday, June 27.
“Therefore, Saturday, June 28, will be the last day of Sha`ban and Sunday, June 29 will be the first day of Ramadan.”
The Higher Judicial Council of Palestine has also announced that Saturday will be the last day of Sha`ban. Therefore, Ramadan will commense on Sunday.
In Kuwait, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and South Korea, it has been announced that Ramadan will start on June 29.
Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammad has announced that Ramadan will start on Sunday, following a meeting with the Australian National Imams Council.
“It will be impossible to physically see the crescent on Friday the 27th of June 2014. This will also be the case for the majority of Muslim countries according the Islamic Crescent Observance Project this year,” a statement published on the Mufti’s official Facebook page said.
“A definitive eyewitness account of the crescent cannot take place in Sydney during sunset on Friday.
“Therefore, Saturday the 28th of June 2014 will mark the end of Sha`ban, which makes Sunday the 29th of June 2014 the first day of the month of Ramadan for the Hijri year of 1435,” the statement added.
The first day Ramadan in Japan will be on Sunday as the moon could not be sighted on Friday, the Islamic Center of Japan announced.
Malaysia’s Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Datuk Seri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad, announced that fasting will start on Sunday in the announcement carried live on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).
The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) has announced earlier this month the start of Ramadan in North America on Saturday.
In Lebanon, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allah announced that Saturday will be the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in a statement issued by his office and cited by Al-Hadath News.
In Turkey, Belgium, Russia, Italy and several Eruopean countries, Saturday has been announced as the first day of Ramadan.
Yemen’s Iftaa House has also announced Saturday, June 28, as the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Sunday or Monday
In Pakistan, Chief Meteorologist Mohammad Riaz has announced that the holy month of Ramadan was expected to start on June 30, 2014.
The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee also known as the moon sighting committee will sit Saturday evening in Karachi for the sighting of the moon, in a meeting presided by the committee’s chairman Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman.
Same position was in India where the moon sighting will be made on Saturday to define the start of the holy month, either on Sunday or Monday.
The first day of Ramadan and moon sighting have always been a controversial issue among Muslim countries, and even scholars seem at odds over the issue.
While one group of scholars sees that Muslims in other regions and countries are to follow the same moon sighting as long as these countries share one part of the night, another states that Muslims everywhere should abide by the lunar calendar of Saudi Arabia.
A third, however, disputes both views, arguing that the authority in charge of ascertaining the sighting of the moon in a given country announces the sighting of the new moon, then Muslims in the country should all abide by this.
This usually causes confusion among Muslims, particularly in the West, on observing the dawn-to-dusk fasting and celebrating the `Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of fasting.

Source: OnIslam