Eid-ul-Fitr to be celebrated on June 16, announces Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid

NEW DELHI: Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid has announced that Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Saturday as there was no sight of moon anywhere across the country on Thursday.

Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari made the announcement after a meeting of the moon-sighting committee here, a senior official at the city's historic mosque said on Thursday.

"The moon was not sighted today. So, that means the Eid will be celebrated on Saturday in Delhi and several other parts of the country," he was quoted as saying.

In Kerala, Eid will be celebrated on Friday as the moon was sighted in Kozhikode, a top cleric said.

The Eid ul-Fitr is celebrated after the sighting of the crescent moon which officially ends the month of Ramzan. 

12 months of Islamic calendar carry either 29 or 30 days. Ramzan also has either 29 or 30 days and Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the 10th month of Islamic calendar.

Ramzan is a holy month for the world's nearly 1.5 billion Muslims, many of whom practise the ritual of dawn-to-dusk fasting and prayers.

The Ramzan fast, in which even water is prohibited, falls on especially long summer days this year for Muslims in the Northern Hemisphere.

Fasting is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and remind them of those less fortunate. 

Tradition holds that it was during Ramadan that the Prophet Mohammed started receiving revelations of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

Ramzan is one of the five "pillars" of Islam.

The festival is marked with feasts and the faithful offers prayers at mosques and idgahs to seek blessings of the divine. People, especially children dress up in their traditional fineries to mark the festival that spreads the message of brotherhood and communal amity.

(With PTI inputs)