Ramadan and Space Science in Tunisia

The Tunisian Association of Astronomy has announced that the 6th of July will be the first day of Eid el Fitr, the festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

According to the Association, the crescent of the new moon will become visible from Tunisia and its neighboring countries on the 5th July, bringing with it a close to the end of Ramadan and the first day of the festival of Eid el Fitr.

According to the Islamic tradition, months are measured by the cycles of the moon, meaning that Ramadan, occurring within the ninth lunar cycle of the year, runs from the first to the final sighting of the new moon’s Crescent. The month itself marks the first revelation of the Qu’ran to the Prophet, Muhammad, the observation of which is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Hicham Ben Yahya, secretary general of the Tunisian Association of Astronomy explained how the end of Ramadan is determined, “When we see the conjunction of the sun with the moon, we cannot detect the moon resent as they are on the same alignment, which is called the marriage phase. However, once the decoupling phase is over, and the crescent of the moon is visibly separate from the sun, we can announce if it is either the first day of Ramadan, or the first day of Eid.” He added

According To Ben Yahya, the new moon will be born upon the 4th of July, but will remain below the horizon for Arab countries until the 5th July. This data is passed to the Grand Mufti, who holds ultimate responsibility for determining the first and final days of the holy month.

Ramadan can fall between different dates on the standard calendar, depending upon which part of the world it is celebrated in, explaining the reasons Ben Yahya said that it was, “because of the different angles and the varying visibility of the moon’s crescent.” However, despite this, there is also the possibility of some countries starting and ending their celebrations to the same announcement. “For instance, Tunisia shares its nighttime hours with Nambia, so we could follow their announcement if we wanted to,” Ben Yahya said.

According to Ben Yahya, an initiative designed to unify both the scientific and Islamic calendar is currently under consideration. However, so far its development does not appear to have pleased either the religious or scientific camp and it remains a work in progress.

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