UAE has formed the moon-sighting committee for determining the day of Eid Al Fitr. The committee will be tasked with the job of spotting the new crescent moon which signals the arrival of Eid Al Fitr. The Saudi government and the Supreme Court have called on Muslims and citizens to report to the nearest court on sighting the new crescent moon or Shawwal crescent. The first day of Shawwāl is Eid al-Fitr. Some Muslims observe six days of fasting during Shawwāl beginning the day after Eid ul-Fitr since fasting is prohibited on this day.

Minister of Justice Sultan Al Badi called for the committee to be formed on Tuesday and the first meeting will be held at Abu Dhabi Judicial Department on Thursday night. The meeting will commence after the Maghrib prayers. Thursday will be the 29th night of Ramadan.

Mr Al Badi will chair the meeting and a number of senior officials will be present at the meeting as reported by state news agency Wam.

A call has also been made to the Sharia courts to keep an eye for the new moon and immediately inform the committee if they sight the crescent. If the moon is spotted on Thursday night, the first day of Shawwal will be on Friday which will also be the first day of Eid Al Fitr. But if the new moon is not seen by the committee on Thursday, Friday will be assumed as Ramadan 30 and Eid Al Fitr will begin on Saturday. It was also added the some Islamic countries opt for telescopes to sight the moon, whereas other countries only call Ramadan when the new moon is spotted with the naked eye or without the telescopes.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2018 06:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).