Saudi Arabia marks beginning of Ramadan

Al Arabiya  :

Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that the holy month of Ramadan will commence on Saturday, March 1, after the sighting of the Ramadan crescent moon in the Kingdom. With this confirmation, more than 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide will begin fasting from sunrise to sunset each day.
Ramadan falls in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which consists of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days.
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and is considered mandatory for all healthy Muslims. However, exemptions are made for young children, the sick, travellers, and women who are pregnant, nursing, or menstruating.
For thousands of years, Muslims have followed the tradition of searching for the crescent moon to determine the start of
Ramadan, as well as the dates of the two major Islamic holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
During Ramadan, working hours for both public and private sector employees, as well as schoolchildren, are typically reduced.
Meanwhile, the Ramadan crescent moon has also been sighted by other Middle Eastern countries, including Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, which have confirmed that Ramadan will begin on Saturday, March 1.
This year, Australia was the first country to officially declare the start of Ramadan based on the moon sighting. Following this, Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, also made the same announcement. However, Indonesia’s neighbouring countries, Brunei and Malaysia, did not sight the Ramadan moon.