The moon sighting committee in Saudi Arabia declared that the Shawwal crescent has been sighted in the Kingdom today, meaning that the Eid al-Fitr 2025 holiday will be observed on March 30.
The Supreme Court has called on Muslims across Saudi Arabia to sight the crescent of the Shawwal moon on Saturday evening, Ramadan 29, 1446 AH, corresponding to March 29, 2025. In an announcement, the Supreme Court called on whoever sights the crescent moon by naked eyes or through binoculars to report to the nearest court and register their testimony or contact the nearest center to help them get to the nearest court.
Four-day holiday in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has already announced a four-day holiday for the private and non-profit sectors for Eid al-Fitr this year. According to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the holiday will be from March 30 to April 2, with work resuming on April 3. In addition to the weekend on Friday and Saturday, private sector employees in the Kingdom will receive a 6-day holiday.
Last week, the International Astronomical Center announced that “sighting the crescent moon on that day (March 29) is impossible from the eastern part of the world, and it is not possible from the rest of the Arab and Islamic world using all observation methods, including the naked eye, telescopes and astronomical photography technology.”
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The center added that the Shawwal crescent moon would be visible by telescope from the central and northern parts of the Americas. Even with a telescope, sighting the crescent moon with the naked eye is very difficult from the eastern part of the Americas. The crescent moon can only be seen with the naked eye from the Pacific Ocean to the western United States.
“For countries that require an accurate crescent sighting, Ramadan is expected to last 30 days and Eid al-Fitr will fall on Monday, March 31. However, given that the conjunction will occur on Saturday, March 29, before sunset, and that the moon will set after sunset in the central and western parts of the Islamic world, it is customary under such circumstances for some countries to declare the beginning of the month the following day. Therefore, it is not unlikely that some countries will declare Eid al-Fitr 2025 on Sunday, March 30,” added the center.
