Ramadan on August 21 in Turkey, Balkans

By Hany Salah, IOL Correspondent
CAIRO — Muslims in Turkey and the Balkans will observe the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on Friday, August 21, according to astronomical calculations.

“Friday, August 21, will be the first day of Ramadan in Turkey,” the Presidency of Religion Affairs, Turkey’s highest religious institution, said in a statement.

Muslims in the Balkans will also follow Turkey in observing the dawn-to-dusk fasting month.

“Ramadan will start in Romania on Friday, August 21,” Youssef Murad, the head of Romania’s Fatwa House, told IslamOnline.net.

However, some Romanian Muslims prefer to start fasting according to the moon-sighting in their countries of origin.

“Romanians of Turkish and Tatari origin follow Turkey in observing Ramadan, while the Arab community follows the moon-sighting in their Arab countries,” said Karim Angi, head of the Romanian Muslim Society.

There are some 70,000 Muslims in Romanian, mostly hailing from Turkey and Albania. They make up two percent of the country’s 22 million population.

Ramadan will also start in Bulgaria on Friday, August 21.

“Bulgarian Muslims usually start fasting with Turkey," said Asen Menkov, head of the Muslim Union for Development and Culture.

During Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Unity

Ramadan will also start in Kosovo on Friday, August 21, according to astronomical calculations.

“In coordination with Turkey’s Fatwa House, we, in the Balkans, have agreed on the start of Ramadan to maintain our unity,” Naeem Trafana, the head of the Islamic Sheikhdom in Kosovo, told IOL.

Bosnian Muslims will also start fasting on Friday, August 21.

Muslims in Croatia and Slovenia will also mark the start of Ramadan on August 21.

The dawn-to-dusk fating month will also start in Serbia and Montenegro on Friday, August 21.

Macedonian and Albanian Muslims will also mark the start of the holy fasting month on Friday, August 21.

Moon sighting has always been a controversial issue among Muslim countries, and even scholars seem at odds over the issue.

While one group of scholars sees that Muslims in other regions and countries are to follow the same moon sighting as long as these countries share one part of the night, another states that Muslims everywhere should abide by the lunar calendar of Saudi Arabia.

A third, however, disputes both views, arguing that the authority in charge of ascertaining the sighting of the moon in a given country announces the sighting of the new moon, then Muslims in the country should all abide by this.