RIYADH – The Supreme Court has called on all Muslims in the Kingdom to sight the crescent of the blessed month of Ramadan on Monday evening, Sha'aban 29, corresponding to July 8. In an announcement made Saturday morning, the Supreme Court also said that whoever sees the crescent of the holy month of Ramadan by the naked eye or through binoculars to report to the nearest court and register his testimony, or report to the authority of the region's governorate if there is no judge in the area where he sighted the crescent. Meanwhile, UAE astronomers have said that Ramadan will begin on July 10, UAE daily The National reported on Saturday. According to Hasan Al-Hariri of Dubai Astronomy Group, the Ramadan crescent would first be seen on the evening of July 9, which means the first fasting day will be July 10. “It's not a matter of reliability, it's science. It's mathematics. One plus one equals two,” Al-Hariri told The National. “And science today has become so beautiful, so simple and so interesting. Anybody with a smartphone can download Google Sky, hold their phones to the moon and see it for themselves.” The astronomy expert also said most GCC countries tend to follow Saudi Arabia's announcements as “we believe the GCC should be unified.” – SG
