Thread by @miqdaad

The beginning of of Ramadan (Tues/Wed) is based on the moon

Most Muslims will follow their local mosque & those mosques often follow another country (Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Pakistan), or a specific ruling.

This thread aims to explain the variation

moonsighting.com/1442rmd.html

Why have some already chosen Tuesday as 1st Ramadan?

Option 1: Assume birth of the moon (on Monday night) is sufficient, even if is not visible in your locality / anywhere in the world

Option 2: Rely on sightability of the moon on Monday night in e.g. Hawaii/S America

See the colours in the moonsighting graphs -> the more to the left you go, the more likely the moon is to be seen in those areas on Monday night; note the latitudinal difference too

The key explains at the bottom

Option 3: the previous month has run 30 days already [although these same questions were answered last month]

Why *might* some declare the first of Ramadan as Tuesday?

Some Muslims / countries wait to see if there is an actual real-world sighting somewhere in the world that they rely upon e.g. Hawaii / S America (rather than rely on the calculations that show that it is possible)

Why will some declare the first of Ramadan as Wednesday (from now)?

Option 1: They rely on local sighting and the moon is just not sightable in the UK on Monday night and it is sightable on Tuesday night -> Wednesday is 1st Ramadan.

Option 2: They rely on a global sighting but they do not consider the likelihood of sighting on Monday night, to be sufficient to be confident in any sighting.

Why might some declare the 1st of Ramadan on Wednesday (and decide late tonight)?

Some rely on any sighting globally& await for news from South America, Hawaii, Polynesian Islands - and if they don't receive a reliable report of sightings on Mon night, they will chose Wednesday

There is greater complexity, as some only rely upon actual sightings from people they trust - and they may not know or trust people who claim to have seen the moon in S America, Hawaii or Polynesian Islands etc.

And some claim to see the moon when it is clearly impossible

(Saudi Arabia (likely to) start on Tuesday & their standard approach is often to claim there has been a sighting in the local area when it is impossible to see the moon)

I would just caution on any, who say: "All Muslims follow Saudi and will start on Tuesday" or "All Muslims follow a local sighting and will start on Wednesday"

The above, is a strong simplification.