Ramadan moon sighting on Sunday

The official sighting of the moon to mark the beginning of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan will be held on April 11, 2021, or Shauban 29, 1442 as per the Hijri calendar. 

The Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) announced that anyone in the Maldives who witnesses the moon on the particular date are to give testimony, if in Male’ City in front of a judge of a court, or the Magistrate of the Magistrate Court if in an island. If the island is without a magistrate, the witness is to give testimony to the highest administrative official heading the Island Council at the time. 

The DJA announcement also read that the secretariat of the DJA, Island Councils, Magistrate Courts will be open from 5:30 in the evening. The DJA requested anyone who witnessed or sighted the moon on April 11 to inform the relevant authorities. Expenditure for the arrangements to provide the testimony will be covered by the DJA. 

In the traditional Hijri Islamic calendar, months last for 29 or 30 days. Sighting of the moon for this month will be held on the 29th day. A crescent moon is to be witnessed to mark the beginning of a new month. The policy for sighting the moon in the Maldives is to see whether anyone in the Maldives witnessed the moon on a particular date or whether any other bigger Islamic nation makes a decision on the sighting of the moon after witnessing the moon.