Date : 03/07/2011
KUWAIT, July 3 (KUNA) -- According to the latest calculations of the Fentas
Observatory, the lunar month of Ramadan is to begin on a Monday, coinciding
August 1, Meteorologist Adel Al-Saadoun told KUNA, Sunday.
Al-Saadoun added that the new crescent would be seen in Saudi Arabia and
other Arab countries, but would not be visible in Kuwait Sunday evening,
though the birth of the new moon, called conjunction (with the sun), occurs
Saturday, 9:40 in the evening.
The lunar calendar is the reference Muslims use for marking religious
occasions and seasons, and the Holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month, and
is a month of fasting from Sunrise till Sunset with more prayers and acts of
warship also observed. The start of Ramadan is not announced according to
astrological calculations alone, but testimony of sighting the crescent by two
men or a man and two women are required for the call for fast.
Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of
God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Quran were
revealed to the prophet, Muhammad.(end)
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