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Amidst the devastating conflict in Gaza, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries have declared that the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan will commence on Monday. Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam’s holiest sites, said through its official SPA news agency on Sunday that the Supreme Court had announced “Monday, March 11, 2024, the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan for this year”.
The crescent of Ramadan
One of the five pillars of Islam is Ramadan. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates declared that Ramadan would begin on Monday following the crescent moon sighting. Ramadan will start on Monday in Egypt, as well as in Algeria, Tunisia, and the Palestinian Territories, including Gaza, according to confirmation from the Islamic advisory body Dar al-Ifta.
Ramadan was originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Iran, following the announcement by its “Esteghlal” moon observation office that it had not been possible to observe “the crescent of Ramadan”.
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Doubts on start of the holy month
Observatories around the kingdom reported that “cloudy weather and dust particles” were obscuring the moon, raising doubts about the exact start of the holy month in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, the Al Majmaah University Astronomical Observatory in Riyadh provided the last word on the sighting.
Grand Mufti Ahmed Hasnat of Jordan prayed to God to “lift affliction and aggression from them” and to “relieve the anguish of our oppressed people in Gaza” as he declared Tuesday to be the first day of Ramadan in the kingdom.
The holy month of Ramadan amid Gaza war
Observant Muslims abstain from food and liquids from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. In the evening, they typically get together to break their fast as a family. Additionally, it is a time of prayer, particularly at night, when a great number of the faithful congregate at mosques. The region’s celebrations have been clouded by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with expectations that a cease-fire could be reached in time for Ramadan to begin crushed.
Palestinians lamented food shortages and the uncertainty of war that loomed over the holy month on Sunday at a market in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where almost 1.5 million people have sought refuge. “Of course, this Ramadan is completely different from all the Ramadans that have gone before it,” said Bassel Yassin, an agricultural engineer. Hassuna Tabib Hassnan, a dentist displaced from Gaza City in the north, said he didn’t know how the month will end — “in our homes, in a tent, by the sea in the north or in the south.” Hassnan added that instead of spending Ramadan in their homes, “it is clear that we will live in displacement, pain and oppression.”
