Sa’ad Abubakar, sultan of Sokoto, has declared today Friday as the day for the celebration of eid-el Fitr. The national moonsighting committee disclosed this in a tweet on Thursday night.
“The Sultan of Sokoto is making an official announcement live, declaring tomorrow Friday 15th June as the 1st day of Shawwal,” the tweet read. National Moonsighting Committee Nig
#Breaking H.E The Sultan of Sokoto is making official announcement live, declaring tomorrow Frida 15th June as the 1st day of Shawwal. We regret our inability to stream it live.
Earlier, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs released a statement, detailing modalities for the sighting of the new moon.
“Following the advice of the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC), the President-General enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to search for the crescent of Shawwal 1439 AH immediately after sunset on Thursday, 14th June, 2018 equivalent to 29th Ramadan 1439 AH,” the statement said.
“If the crescent is sighted by Muslims of impeccable character on the said evening, His Eminence would declare Friday, 15th June, 2018 as the first day of Shawwal and the day of ‘idul fitr. If, however, the crescent is not sighted that day, then, Saturday, 16th June, 2018 automatically becomes the first day of Shawwal, 1439 AH and the day of ‘idul fitr.
The Shawwal crescent moon has reportedly been sighted in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and some other countries. The sighting of the moon signifies an end to the holy month of Ramadan and the fast of millions of Muslims across the world.
