The Scottish Hilal Forum (SHF) has announced Eid ul Adha date 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:
Eid ul-Adha will be on Sunday, 11th of August 2019/هـ1440 insha Allah.
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.
We can safely determine Sunday, 11th of August 2019 as the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah ذو الحجة هـ1440. According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in the following categories on 1st August 2019:
| Moon Visibility on 1st August 2019 | |||
| Thursday, 1 August 2019
|
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| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | F | 30 | |
| Rabat | D | 37 | |
| Cape Town – South Africa | F | 29 | |
| Johannesburg – South Africa | F | 28 | |
| Dakar – Senegal | C | 39 | |
| Accra – Ghana | C | 36 | |
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | C | 38 | |
| London | F | 35 | |
| Glasgow | F | 34 | |
Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO) has categorised the visibility of the moon as follows:
A. Easily visible
B. Visible under perfect conditions
C. May need optical aid to find the crescent Moon
D. Will need optical aid to find the crescent Moon
E. Not visible with a telescope
F. Not visible, below the Danjon limit