The Moon Sighting Committee of the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (Awqaf) has requested that Muslims in Qatar look to the sky on Tuesday after sunset to try to spot the new moon.
According to QNA, the committee would like anyone who sees the crescent to head to Awqaf’s headquarters in Dafna to report his/her testimony.
If the moon is spotted on Tuesday night, that means Ramadan has begun, and Wednesday, June 17 will be the first day of fasting.
If it’s not, then Thursday, June 18 will be the first day of fasting – which will mean different working hours for most people, and the closure of many restaurants and coffee shops during the daytime.
See our guide on eight things to know about Ramadan in Qatar for more information about how the country observes the fasting month.
Thoughts?
Will do. I’ll be in my back garden with a G&T on the rocks, staring up a the sky.
Don’t be staring up at the sky. The crescent moon will likely be spotted just after sunset, slightly to the left and above the part of the horizon where the sun has just set.
Good point, I’ll readjust my hammock. I’ll take a bacon sandwich just in case it takes too long and I get hungry.
Now you made me think that I need to go to QDC to buy bacon – and a lot of alcohol…
Good luck this week
wont you turn into something when you see it, or was it the full moon .LOL
Each to their own. Not believing in heritage and tradition is fine; it is beyond me what you stand to gain by posting about how backwards we are over and over again. There’s no need to ridicule other people’s way of doing things and making yourself out to be better than anyone. Ramadan’s a great time to be in Qatar; if you took a break from making snide remarks you’d have a better chance at experiencing it the right way.
MIMH is like the teenager craving for attention. he always comes up with this kind of BS. Stop feeding the troll.
I generally love heritage and tradition especially here in Qatar although you have to admit it is sometimes very hard to find, but it exists and it is awesome. However wouldn’t you also agree that it would not harm the tradition if the government would go by the moon calendar which can be calculated for at least a decade and decide the dates a couple of months ago so that everybody can plan a little ahead?
Nope I prefer sighting the moon. That bit of tradition can be left as is. Dont need technology everywhere.
You don’t need technology to calculate the position of the moon. If you do, I suggest asking your math and physics teacher what the heck they were doing in school.
For the hard questions they just said God did it.
Deleting for picking a fight.
exactly what QDC needed. Some more money and massive profits. I always am happy when I see this bunch of creatures who cant survive without alcohol and bacon. Gives me a good laugh. I’m sure it will be crowded this time of the year. If any time Qatar wants to implement taxes, they sure know which goods to target first.
I’m pleased to assist and glad it makes you happy. Of course I can survive without alcohol and bacon but I make my own decisions and I choose not to. I find it sad that many cannot think for themselves and make their own choices.
People who dont have alcohol or pork dont need your certificate. I can very well think for myself and make my choices. Keep your holier than thou attitude to yourself.
Facty, QDC has the monopoly on retail sales for alcohol and pork in Qatar which means the high prices they charge are really a hidden tax to feed the cash flow at Qatar Airways. Almost like an indirect government subsidy 😉
Describing people who enjoy drinking alcohol and eat pork as part of their cultural heritage as ‘creatures’ is hardly a respectful pre- Ramadan sentiment. I enjoy both, and also enjoy Ramadan, and the cultural differences therein.
Thanks for calling people that drink alcohol and eat pork creatures. I am proud of drinking alcohol and eating pork. It has its roots centuries ago when water was so polluted you could not drink it, so many people often were even being paid in alcohol. Pest being around centuries ago in Europe also meant it was very hard to properly farm the land. Pigs are easy to raise, eat leftover and can pretty quickly become a decent meal. This is why alcohol and pork play a vital role in the European culture. Historically it is highly questionable whether the European culture would’ve gotten as far as it is today if alcohol and pork would not have existed. It’s always easy for people from a different culture to judge what our ancenstors went through. Have you ever been to a history museum in Western Europe?
I’m sure alcohol is vital for life and not water.
#FACEPALM
If you would’ve understood my comment, you would’ve also understood that 200 years ago, yes alcohol was vital for life and not the infected poisonous water. I drink alcohol because my father drank alcohol, my grandfather did and my great grandfather. It was a tradition to sit together, chat and have a glass of beer. It is a culture thing and not that we’re all alcoholic. There is nothing to facepalm about.
Alcohol is knot vital to life, the same as Islam is not vital for life or shisha.
أهلا يا رمضان….
MIMH,
If you spot the moon, will you call it in?
Nah, I’ll just pour another G&T, consult my astronomical charts and marvel at the wonder of the universe.
But if you did, would your non-Muslim testimony even be accepted? You may not have had the Muslim moon sighting training that qualifies you to be an authority on movements of celestial bodies.
Lets just say I live in Al Khor or Al wakrah…you’re telling me to get in my car and drive all the way to Dafna just to tell you I saw the moon?
We can’t let technology (phone call, email, SMS, etc.) get in the way of a good old fashioned moon sighting testimony!
Of course, no phones in the days of Mohd, in fact you should get on your camel to call it in….
Deleting for irreverence.
Cause they need valid testimonials, not some random person making claims and hiding behind fake identities like the ones on this website.
So, if you have to see the moon to commence Ramadan, what happens in those countries which have persistent cloud cover?
they can check with their neighboring countries
That would only work for tiny countries I’d think. What happens in huge countries like Indonesia or Nigeria?
so if you don’t actually have to see it why can’t you use the astrological charts?
and if there is a sand storm that included the neighboring countries?
If the moon cant be sighted, you will complete 30 days of the month. In the Islamic calendar no month can have more than 30 days.
fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars…
Just call NASA. They will tell you the second when the moon will be visible!
Sigh, 1 month of hiding in the toilets and eating like a criminal. The moon needs to get itself some speakers so it can blast out the call of prayer. Speaking of bacon sandwiches, I have actually had more bacon and alcohol (than I have ever had) since moving to Qatar
Haha, something having to do with forbidden fruit and coping mechanisms?
And with all this “difficulty” you would never leave qatar. Oh those precious $$$. Anyways thanks for havbing more alcohol and bacon, exactly what QDC needed, some more profits.
Yes that is the bit I do not like, being made to feel like a criminal due to someone else’s beliefs. I wouldn’t mind if they just made you feel guilty but it is backed up by the full force of the law. If you try to drink some water in public and the police catch you, (like a criminal) they will fine you. No compulsion in religion so they say….
I’m not Muslim and I’m frequently critical of the way things work in the Muslim world. However, I’m a little sickened at many comments making fun of the process and tradition of moonsighting. In my opinion it’s a cute nod to tradition in the face of a technology driven world and think we should embrace, rather than ridicule it.
Cause you know locals are a bigoted racist intolerant bunch… Wait no I meant expats
Not all of us. I’m with Pete on this one. Far too many of our centuries old traditions have fallen to the lure of using technology instead. Personally, as a non Muslim, I enjoy Ramadan, I like the peace and tranquility, and the spirit of the season. We always abstain from alcohol completely, and one year actually fasted. It is a rewarding experience. Of course, the fact that most of the “bigoted, racists, intolerant expats” head for the hills is always a bonus. Never understand why people like that come to live here. It can’t just be the money, surely, no one is that shallow.
I would never ridicule any deep tradition of any culture or religion, but I’m not sure that I could embrace something which has no relevance to mine, and certainly as in the case of Ramadan I am somewhat unhappy at being needlessly put in certain situations where I have no option but to be affected by it.
the shiia have announced Ramadan on Wednesday, that means it will be Thursday for sunnis
This moon sighting is getting ridiculous. Why not embrace technology as well.
It’s not a case of embracing technology, humans knew before even Islam was invented how to calculate the motions of the planets and the moon. It’s just a cultural tradition.
No, it is not a ‘cultural thing’. The prophet PBUH said that we should observe ramadan when we see the new moon with the naked eye. Don’t assume and say stuff you know nothing about MIMH.
And you know that how? He told you?
C’mon MIMH, it’s as much a part of Islamic faith as God giving the ten commandments to Moses is of the Christian faith. You have to respect that.
So where are these Ten Commandments? How do we know he didn’t just make them up? In fact how do we know Moses even existed at all and is not just a made up story? If we took the bible and Koran literally there are some pretty nasty passages, so people just pick and choose what they want to believe. I like my evidence served straight up and I enjoy stories for what they are.
if someone doesn’t like muslim country go wayyyyyyyyyyy…
How can a country be Muslim? Does it pray 5 times a day? Does it do hajj? Can it recite the Koran? No country has a religion or even a personality, it’s just a bit of dirt.
if u are respect everthink going be good…Maybe u need more morally :)))
Bunch of holier than thou geniuses mock the tradition of sighting the moon is fine. Some one calls alcohol and pork eaters creatures and they get butt hurt. Nice to watch this hypocrisy on display.
Not really, I had a good laugh at your comment. Then I laughed again when I realised you will never have the joy of a bacon sandwich.
The comments below is a great show of the sort of expats Qatar has today… Nothing more than a bunch of sorry single men with backed up pipes entertaining each other online but trying to out wit each other on how they can be offensive..
I pray for the day someone actually reads this takes the post below and files a formal complaint with the authorities on charges of blasphemy and slander allowing the law to force dn hands in giving in the email addresses from which it’ll be easy to track .. Arrest and put you on trail… Which will be a huge boost in dn revenues …
But off course half the below is ok with shabina but if I make a joke about ques outside of qdc I get warned
Deleting a whole bunch of these comments for being off track. Disturbing though, to wish someone jail time because they made a joke about a bacon sandwich.
Man you suck as an editor … Why did u delete my comments ? What’s with you… You can’t just decide what stays and what goes based on your mood
It’s not based on a whim. When you threaten commenters I’m going to delete your comments because you are pouring water on discussions.
http://www.freemorsi.org/you-support-register/ http://www.freemorsi.org/ar/
علينا أيضا أن نقدم الدعم.
Deleting for being off topic.
It’s really good to know that Qatar is still sticking to the sunnah of local moon sighting, despite the pressure of choosing calculated satellite sighting or following saudi moon sighting, as many Muslim countries have sadly chosen. This is not a mere cultural tradition, but a very noble and commendable teaching of the Prophet, which many Muslim committees in the west don’t follow, largely out of convenece.
It’s their choice if they want to join the modern world. If you want to live in the past and not advance that is your choice as well
We were an office of 3 Christians, so we didn’t have a problem with the first Ramadan. Some time later we started to put up the word of the day in four languages on the blackboard so we could have a word a day to learn and exercise our brains. Just before the next Ramadan, the big chief who was a Muslim, came round to inspect the offices and asked what the board was for, which we explained. Murmurs of discontent from the middle management suddenly went round and out of nowhere a Muslim colleague was moved in, and being the respectful crew we were we respected his culture and didn’t eat or drink in front of him – but there is no doubt that it affected our morale and our faith in the management. Ramadan is supposed to be a display of faith for Muslims – it is not supposed to be a punishment for non-Muslims.