The Scottish Hilal Forum (SHF) has announced Ramadan and Eid dates for 2022 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 2022/1443هـ will be on Sunday, 3 April 2022
and
Eid ul-Fitr 2022/1443هـ will be on Monday, 2 May 2022, 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 2022/1443هـ
We can safely determine Sunday, 3 April 2022 as the first day of Ramadan 2022/1443هـ.
According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in category ‘A’ for many countries on 2nd of April 2022:
| Friday, 1 Apr 2022 | Saturday, 2 Apr 2022 | ||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | F | 17 | A | 70 | |
| Rabat | F | 23 | A | 83 | |
| Cape Town – South Africa | F | 22 | A | 51 | |
| Dakar – Senegal | F | 25 | A | 75 | |
| Accra – Ghana | F | 23 | A | 70 | |
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | F | 25 | A | 72 | |
| London | F | 20 | A | 94 | |
| Glasgow | F | 20 | A | 99 |
It should be noted that the moon will be born on 1st April 2022 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.
Eid ul-Fitr 2022/1443هـ
Similarly, we can safely determine Monday, 2 May 2022 as the 1st of Shawwal 1443هـ.
According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in categories ‘B’, or ‘C’ on 1st May 2022 for most of the cities/ countries listed below:
| Saturday, 30 Apr 2022 | Sunday, 1 May 2022 | ||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | C | 38 | |||
| Rabat | B | 49 | |||
| Cape Town – South Africa | F | 26 | |||
| Dakar – Senegal | B | 44 | |||
| Accra – Ghana | C | 40 | |||
| Freetown – Sierra Leone | B | 42 | |||
| London | C | 58 | |||
| Glasgow | D | 63 |