Hyderabad: Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the culmination of the Muslim month of fasting, will be celebrated in Hyderabad and other parts of India on Saturday, March 21.The central moon-sighting committee of Telangana, which met here on Thursday, announced that the crescent of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar, was not sighted in Hyderabad or anywhere else in the country. Consequently, Friday, March 20, will be the 30th day of Ramzan, and Eid will fall on Saturday.The committee met under the leadership of Maulana Syed Hassan Ibrahim Hussaini Qadri Sajjad Pasha, secretary of the Sadar Majlis Ulema Deccan, which supervises the moon-sighting panel. With the announcement that Eid will be celebrated in India on Saturday, the dream of a universal Eid eluded the Muslim community once again this year. While Singapore announced that it would celebrate the festival on Saturday, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries said they would celebrate Eid on Friday.A universal Eid is nearly impossible, as Muslim scholars in India and their counterparts in the Arab world are divided on the method of sighting the moon. While religious leaders in India insist that the moon be sighted with the naked eye, other countries particularly Saudi Arabia prefer the use of optical aids, including observatories. This often results in Eid being celebrated on different days in different parts of the world.
