Q1. Assalaam Alaikum. I am confused something I heard at the mosque today. A brother made the announcement that Eid will be on Sunday. We thought that the Islamic Society was all about moon-sighting but this sounds like it doesn’t matter about the moon. What is going on? (email)

Q2. Y do you claim to have eid ‘cautiously sunday’ and next breath claim to follow moon. Y not ‘cautiously sunday and cautiously monday.’ (text)

A. Wa ‘Alaykum Salaam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

(The Imam is a bit busy and so asked the admin team to take care of these questions.) As we were not able to hear the announcement in question, we took a look at the UtahMuslims.com website hoping for some clarity. We found the following announcement (which does correlate with the statement heard in the masjid):

Data from the astronomical calculations suggest that, on Saturday, August 18, the Eid-al-Fitr crescent can be “easily” sighted in Central and South Americas, and the southern tip of California. Thus, it is “highly probable” that Eid will be celebrated on Sunday, August 19.

Based on the above astronomical information, our Hilal Committee shall try to sight the crescent on Saturday, August 18. The committee’s decision shall be available on this website or by calling one of our mosques (972-6555 or 364-7822) after 10.30 P.M. that evening. We humbly suggest that you visit our website for information instead of calling, as the phone lines will be extremely busy.

The Executive Committee members shall be available in both mosques on August 18 to answer any questions about the crescent sighting. We humbly request everyone’s patience with this process. Sometimes, it may seem a little inconvenient to follow the sunnah, but there is great reward in it. May Allah (SWT) guide us to the right path and grant us patience.

We at KnowYourDeen.com do not find that announcement to be contradictory to the knowledge that Eid can either fall on Sunday or on Monday, although it is admittedly unfortunate that the UM.com website failed to mention the possibility of Monday. However, do not assume that because the above announcement merely suggests that there is “high probability” of Eid being on Sunday to mean that Eid would only be on Sunday. We see that above announcement is also mentioning that local attempts at sighting the hilal will be made, and so we don’t feel that you need be confused about the ISOGSLC’s commitment to local moon-sighting.

We urge UM.com members to provide further clarity in the comments, so as to alleviate the concerns and confusion in the people’s minds. Let’s please put this to rest quickly, as there are other more urgent matters to deal with, inshaAllah.

JazakumAllah khair for the questions.

Wassalaam

*the above announcement from utahmuslims.com was as of the times of the questions being asked. The announcement has apparently been updated to be more clear.