The Scottish Hilal Forum (SHF) has announced Ramadan and Eid dates for 2020 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 2020/1441 هـ will be on Saturday, 25th of April 2020 and
Eid ul-Fitr will be on Sunday, 24th of May 2020 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 2020/1441 هـ
We can safely determine Saturday, 25th of April 2020 as the 1st of Ramadan 1441 هـ. According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in category ‘A’ for many countries on 24th of April 2020:
| Thursday, 23 April 2020 | Friday, 24 April 2020 | ||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | F | 23 | A | 73 | |
| Rabat | F | 28 | A | 84 | |
| Cape Town – South Africa | F | 30 | A | 63 | |
| Johannesburg – South Africa | F | 29 | A | 64 | |
| Dakar – Senegal | E | 31 | A | 80 | |
| Accra – Ghana | E | 29 | A | 75 | |
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | E | 31 | A | 78 | |
| London | F | 23 | A | 90 | |
| Glasgow | F | 23 | A | 94 |
It should be noted that the moon will be born on 23rd April 2020 but according to the British Observatory, it will be in Categories of ‘E’ or ‘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.
Eid ul-Fitr 2019/1440 هـ
Similarly, we can safely determine Sunday, 24th of May 2020 as the 1st of Shawwal 1441 هـ. According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in categories ‘A’ or ‘B’ in most countries on 23th May 2020:
| Friday, 22 May 2020 | Saturday, 23 May 2020 | ||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | B | 44 | |||
| Rabat | F | -6 | B | 52 | |
| Cape Town | D | 41 | |||
| Johannesburg | C | 41 | |||
| Dakar – Senegal | F | -1 | A | 52 | |
| Accra – Ghana | F | -2 | B | 48 | |
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | F | -1 | A | 50 | |
| London | F | -14 | D | 54 | |
| Glasgow | F | -17 | E | 55 |
It should be noted that the moon will be born on 22nd May 2020 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.