Saudi Arabia Admits Mistake in Announcing Eid
Muhammad al-Najimi, a member of the Islamic Fiqh Council, said due to this mistake, the Saudi government has agreed to pay the Kaffara (money one has to pay to make up for their broken fast) of the country’s people.
A Saudi board in charge of sighting the moon said on Thursday, July 16, that its members had sighted the moon of Shawwal, the 10th month in the Islamic calendar that comes after Ramadan, InterAz.a website reported.
The board, therefore, announced Friday as Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.
But it later admitted that what had been sighted was the planet Saturn, not the moon, and that, actually, the Eid fell on Saturday.
On Monday, Tunisia’s Mufti Sheikh Hamda Saied also apologized to the people of the North African country for making a mistake in announcing Eid al-Fitr.
He had announced in an official address to the Tunisian nation that Friday, July 17, would mark Eid al-Fitr.
Saied, however, admitted later that he had been wrong as Eid fell on Saturday, not Friday.
Following a month of fasting in Ramadan, Muslims all over the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the first day of the lunar month of Shawwal, on the weekend.
