The National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) announced the date for the start of the holy month of Ramadan in Egypt to be on Thursday, 23 March.
According to the Cairo-based institute, Eid Al Fitr, the three-day feast celebrating the end of Ramadan, will begin on Friday, 21 April.
Despite the announcement made, the final date for the beginning of Ramadan is determined by Egypt’s Dar Al Ifta, the official Egyptian Islamic governmental body.
On Thursday, 9 March, Dar Al Ifta announced that it will be observing the crescent for the holy month of Ramadan on 29 Sha’ban, the month preceding Ramadan in the Islamic calendar.
The date of the start of Ramadan changes every year. Since Islam adheres to the lunar calendar, the month of Ramadan begins when the first crescent of a new moon is observed, and later announced by Dar Al Ifta.
This year, with COVID-19 restrictions eased across the country, Egyptians will be allowed to perform all religious rituals inside mosques.
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