Home to Islam’s holiest sites, Saudi Arabia has declared that it will commence the 2022 Ramadan fasting on Saturday, April 2.
Naija News understands that many countries of the world, including Nigeria have always waited for Saudi to announce the sighting of the moon or starting day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
However, things have changed recently as most countries now commence on conviction upon sighting of the moon from their various locations.
“Tomorrow, Saturday will be the first day of the blessed month of Ramadan,” the Saudi kingdom said on Friday in a statement carried out by the official SPA news agency.
Four other Arab countries of the Gulf, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE, have also announced the Saturday start of Ramadan, while Oman said it is expected to begin a day later.
Naija News understands that the starting date of the dawn-dusk fasting month of Ramadan is determined by both lunar calculations and physical sightings of a new moon.
During this period, Muslim faithfuls will refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk and traditionally gather with family and friends to break their fast in the evening.
During this period, Muslims gather for prayers in large numbers in mosques, especially at night.
Traditionally, Ramadan marks the time that Prophet Mohammed started receiving revelations from the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Ramadan is one of the five “pillars” of Islam.
The others are the profession of faith (“there is no God but God and Mohammed is his messenger”), the obligation to pray five times a day, charity, and the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a believer’s lifetime.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News