The crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, has been sighted, Saudi Arabia authorities announced on Friday evening.

The crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan 1443 AH, was sighted in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening, making this Friday the last and 29th day of Shaban 1443 Hijri.

The moon sighting committee of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced that the first fast of the month of Ramadan will be on Saturday, April 2, while Taraweeh will begin on April 1, after Isha prayers.

The Ramadan crescent was observed using a CCD camera at Taif observatory. It was observed across the Kingdom in all observatories including Sudair and Tumair.

Earlier, Abdullah al-Khudairi, director of the astronomical observatory at the University of Al-Majma’ah, said, the air in Sudair is 90 percent clear to see the crescent of the month of Ramadan.

The Supreme Court, had on Wednesday Called on all Muslims in Saudi to investigate the sighting of the crescent of the month of Ramadan 1443 this Friday evening.

In Islam, Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and the holy month of fasting. It begins and ends with the appearance of the crescent moon.

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar and is believed to be the month during which the Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and abstain from food and drink during this period.

Meanwhile, the Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the month-long fast, is expected to begin on Monday, May 2, 2022., The Saudi authorities said, adding that Eid holidays will be from Ramadan 29 until Shawwal 3 – based on the Islamic calendar.

The exact date of the start of Eid-ul-fitr will be confirmed closer to the date, based on the moon-sighting tradition, it added.