Lebanon”s Sunni authority says Ramadan starts Saturday
Lebanon’s highest Muslim Sunni authority Dar al-Fatwa said the holy month of Ramadan will start on Saturday August 22. Dar al-Fatwa said that religious authorities on Thursday were “not able to discern the new moon of the holy month of Ramadan.” Lebanon’s senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said earlier this week that Ramadan will begin on Friday August 21 based “on accurate astronomical calculations.”
The beginning of Ramadan is traditionally based on the sighting of the new moon so most Muslims don’t know exactly when the month begins until a day or two before.
Fadlallah is alone in his reliance on astronomical calculations rather than moon sightings by the naked eye.
Ramadan is Islam’s holiest month and a time of reflection when Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk.