Eid in Kerala tomorrow; NCR, Bengal to celebrate on Saturday
Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated in the National Capital Region and West Bengal on Saturday while Keralites will celebrate the festival tomorrow.
After a meeting of Royat Hilal Committee here this evening, Shahi Imam of Delhi's Fatehpuri Masjid, Mufti Mohd Mukkaram Ahmed, said, "The moon of Shawwal was not sighted today. Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Saturday."
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bhukari said the moon was not sighted and "therefore I announce that the first of Shawwal (Eid-ul-Fitr) falls on Saturday".In Kolkata, Shahi Imam of the Tipu Sultan Mosque said that since "the moon was not sighted today, the festival will be celebrated on Saturday".
Muslims in Kerala will celebrate Eid tomorrow with imams declaring sighting of the new moon marking the end of the fasting month of Ramzan this evening.
Panakkad Sayid Hyderali Shihab Thangal, spiritual leader of Muslims in Malabar region in north Kerala, declared in Malappuram that the new moon marking the beginning of the month Shawwal in the Islamic calendar was sighted from different places.
In south Kerala also, imams in different places declared sighting of the moon.
Idd celebrations culminates fasting by devotees for a month during Ramzan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
The faithful wake up early morning for the pre-dawn 'sehri' meal renouncing food and water during the day before breaking their fast in the evening. The evening meal is known as 'iftaar'. As Islam follows a lunar calendar, the holy month begins every year about 11 days earlier and its commencement is traditionally determined by the appearance of the new moon.
