The Scottish Hilal Forum (SHF) has announced Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr dates for 2023 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 2023/1444هـ will be on Thursday, 23 March 2023
and
Eid ul-Fitr 2023/1444هـ will be on Friday, 21 April 2023, in sha 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 occurred in the UK (birth of new moon).
- The moonset must occur after sunset in the UK.
- The visibility of moon must fall either in Category A or B or C for either Makkah, or any city in the UK or any city in Australia, Asia, Europe or Americas.
- 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 2023/1444هـ
We can safely determine Thursday, 23 March 2023 as the first day of Ramadan 2023/1444هـ.
According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in the category ‘A’ for many countries on 22nd of March 2023:
| | Tuesday, 21 March 2023 | Wednesday, 22 March 2023 | |||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |
| Makkah | A | 51 | |||
| Rabat | F | -4 | A | 64 | |
| Cape Town – South Africa | C | 37 | |||
| Dakar – Senegal | F | 2 | A | 58 | |
| Accra – Ghana | F | 1 | A | 53 | |
| Washington DC | F | 9 | A | 80 | |
| London | F | -13 | A | 71 | |
| Glasgow | F | -15 | A | 76 |
It should be noted that the moon will be born on 21st March 2023 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 2023/1444هـ
Similarly, we can safely determine Friday, 21 April 2023 as the 1st of Shawwal 1444هـ.
According to Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO), the visibility falls in categories ‘B’, or ‘C’ on 20th April 2023 for some of the cities/ countries listed below:
| Thursday, 20 April 2023 | |||||
| City | Visibility | Lag time (minutes) | |||
| Makkah | F | 24 | |||
| Rabat | F | 35 | |||
| Dakar – Senegal | E | 31 | |||
| New York | C | 51 | |||
| Washington DC | B | 51 | |||
| San Diego, California | B | 54 | |||
| London | F | 42 | |||
| Glasgow | F | 47 |