The Scottish Hilal Forum (SHF) has announced Ramadan and Eid dates for 2019 under the supervision of Ulama in line with agreed Islamic criteria and including data from Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (British Observatory).
Based on the agreed criteria:
The first day of Ramadan 2019/1440 هـ will be on Monday, 6th of May 2019
and
Eid ul-Fitr will be on Wednesday, 5th of June 2019 insha Allah.
The Muslim community in Scotland has faced confusion for many years regarding the starting of Ramadan and Eid. This has resulted in severe difficulties for students, employees and the self-employed who could not take time off from work or from educational institutions due to the wait for last minute confirmation of Eid day.
SHF, by Ulama agreeing on Islamic and Scientific criteria, has been able to announce the required dates ahead of time, allowing the community to plan ahead while keeping united.
Scottish Hilal Forum agreed that the Shara’i new month is ascertained if the following conditions are satisfied:
- The conjunction must have actually occurred.
- The moonset follows sunset.
- The visibility falls either in Category A or B or C for either Makkah, or any city in the UK or any city in North, North West, West, South and South West African countries.
- The city that is chosen in the regions/ counties mentioned above in the point 3 for the start of Hijri month must be same for the end of Hijri month.
Ramadan 2019/1440 هـ
We can safely determine Monday, 6th of May 2019 as the 1st of Ramadan 1440 هـ According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in category ‘B’ or ‘C’ for many countries on 5th of May 2019:
| Sunday, 5 May 2019 | Monday, 6 May 2019 | ||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | E | 33 | A | 90 | |
| Rabat | D | 39 | A | 190 | |
| Cape Town – South Africa | D | 41 | A | 82 | |
| Johannesburg – South Africa | C | 39 | A | 83 | |
| Dakar – Senegal | B | 42 | A | 98 | |
| Accra – Ghana | B | 40 | A | 94 | |
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | B | 42 | A | 96 | |
| London | F | 34 | A | 106 | |
| Glasgow | F | 34 | A | 109 |
Eid ul-Fitr 2019/1440 هـ
Similarly, we can safely determine Wednesday, 5th of June 2019 as the 1stof Shawwal 1440 هـ. According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in categories ‘A’ on 4thJune 2019:
| Monday, 3 June 2019 | Tuesday, 4 June 2019 | ||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | F | 6 | A | 67 | |
| Rabat | F | 12 | A | 74 | |
| Cape Town | F | 17 | A | 68 | |
| Johannesburg | F | 15 | A | 68 | |
| Dakar – Senegal | F | 17 | A | 76 | |
| Accra – Ghana | F | 15 | A | 73 | |
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | F | 17 | A | 75 | |
| London | F | 3 | A | 72 | |
| Glasgow | F | 0 | B | 71 |
It should be noted that the moon will be born on 3rd June 2019 but according to the British Observatory, it will be in Category ‘F’ for the cities/ countries listed above, which means it will be below the Danjon limit, not visible even with the help of a telescope.