Eid Ul Fitr 2018 Around the World – How is it Celebrated?

Eid, the pious festivals of Muslims fall just after the holy month of Ramzan. It stands as an excellent deal for Muslim people gathering with each other and celebrating in the heartiest way possible. With the festival of Eid arriving so close, people are excitedly waiting for the Shawwal moon to be sighted so that they can enjoy. The sighting of the Shawwal moon would signify the ending of the month of Ramzan and the beginning of Eid.

The celebration of Eid begins with the sighting of Shawwal moon. The moon rises on the first night of Shawwal, the tenth month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Islamic Prophet Muhammad brought the month Shawwal into existence. Every year, the Eid day varies in different countries.

However, the date of Eid and the month of Ramzan changes every year and due to specific changes in the lunar calendar it happens to fall on the previous as compared to that of the previous one. Like every year, the Eid this year too happens to drop a bit earlier and at a different time in different regions. The day of the Eid is to be celebrated entirely depends on the sighting of the Shawwal moon.

Eid Ul Fitr: Celebrations around the world

Much anticipated by the people, Eid was to be observed from June 15 and then June 16 and 17th in different places. The sighting of the moon first begins in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and then goes on in different countries. As expected, the moon sighting or Chandraat was observed by the Saudi Arabians on 14th June. In favor of the luck of people, the moon was sighted in Saudi Arabia on 14 June 2018. Therefore, the sighting of the moon on the Chandraat just marked that Eid would be celebrated in Saudi Arabia on 15th June. The confirmation by Saudi Grand Mosque of Mecca is very much necessary to determine if Eid would be celebrated on June 15th. Therefore, Saudi Grand Mosque confirmed that Eid in Kingdom Saudi Arabia would be celebrated on June 15th.

However, there are some countries where the moon wasn’t sighted today. Therefore, the celebration of Eid would begin on the following day of 15th June which is from June 16th.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (CRHC) met in Karachi to sight the Shawwal moon. However, they also said that it was unlikely to spot the planet on Thursday. The Met office said, “There are fewer chances of the Eid moon being sighted today.” Therefore, in Pakistan Eid is to be celebrated on June 16th.

Hurriyet Daily of Turkey said that holidays had been announced in Turkey from June 15 till June 17. Eid will be celebrated in Turkey on Friday, June 15th.

The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Malaysia took to announce that the celebrations of Eid would begin in Malaysia and Indonesia from June 15th. Therefore, Malaysia and Indonesia are also observing Eid on 15th.

Australia, New Zealand and India would be observing Eid on June 16th because the crescent moon of Shawwal was not spotted in these countries.