“The new crescent moon will remain visible in the sky over Mecca for 30 minutes, and in Cairo for 35 minutes after sunset on the day of the sighting. In the rest of Egypt’s governorates, the new crescent will remain visible for periods ranging from 30 to 37 minutes,” he explained. Rabah indicated that the new crescent will remain visible after sunset on that day for periods ranging from 11 to 44 minutes across Arab and Islamic capitals and cities. The head of NRIAG confirmed that, astronomically, the first day of Shawwal 1447 AH (Eid al-Fitr) will be Friday, March 20 according to the results of the study conducted by Mohamed Ahmed Samida, head of the Solar and Space Research Department at the institute. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Source: Egypt Independent March 17, 2026 08:55 UTC