Jordan marks Eid Al Fitr Tuesday along

Tuesday is the first day of Eid Al Fitr, the feast marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, according to a statement by Chief Islamic Justice Ahmad Hilayel on Monday. Although the crescent of the new lunar month of Shawwal was not sighted in Jordan, the Kingdom will rely on the sighting in Saudi Arabia out of keenness to unify Muslims, Hilayel said in an unprecedented statement. “Although the crescent was not spotted anywhere in Jordan, and since it was spotted in Mecca and out of unity among the Muslim countries and to be united in starting Eid Al Fitr, we will mark Eid Al Fitr along with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday,” he said at a ceremony at Amman’s King Hussein Ben Talal Mosque at iftar time on Monday. The chief Islamic justice said teams equipped with telescopes were deployed in various parts of the Kingdom, but none of them spotted the new crescent moon. “It was not possible to spot the crescent in Jordan although we installed telescopes across the Kingdom. But it was seen in Saudi Arabia,” Hilayel said. Eid Al Fitr starts with the sighting of the new moon at sunset on the preceding day, in accordance with the teachings of Prophet Mohammad. Accordingly, Muslims declare the start, as well as the end, of the fasting month on the basis of the sighting. Saudi Arabia announced Monday that the Eid Al Fitr feast marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan will be on Tuesday, in a statement aired on state television Al Ekhbariyah, cited by Agence France-Presse. Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest shrines, said the new moon had been sighted and that Ramadan ends on Monday with the feast to follow the next day. Egyptian state television, quoting Islamic authorities, also declared that Eid Al Fitr will be on Tuesday. The Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, among other Muslim countries, also announced the end of Ramadan. On the occasion, His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday received Eid greetings from a number of Arab leaders, including Bahraini King Hamad Ben Isa Al Khalifa, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and Kuwaiti Crown Prince Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah. The King also received congratulatory cables from the head of Egypt’s ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohammad Hussein Tantawi, in addition to leaders of Oman, Palestine, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Eritrea. The Monarch also received good wis?es cables from senior officials and officers.