How to Determine the Beginning of Shawwal 1445

According to the Supreme Leader's latest fatwa (the condition of being on the same horizon, the sufficiency of sighting by means of observational tools and the validity of seeing the crescent during the day to prove that the next day is the first of the month), the method of determining the first of Shawwal 1445 is presented as follows:

  1. In northwestern parts of South America, all parts of Central America, the United States, and central and western parts of Canada, people try to see the crescent moon at sunset on Monday, April 8, 2024. If it is sighted, Tuesday, April 9 will be the first of Shawwal for them.

However, in the rest of the world, they perform Istihlāl (try to see the crescent moon) on Tuesday, April 9.

2. If Wednesday, April 10, 2024, is announced as the first month of Shawwal and Eid of Fitr in Iran,

the following countries and regions must comply with this announcement because the visibility conditions of the crescent in these regions will be similar or better than those of Iran:

Western Asian countries, the central and western parts of Turkmenistan, western Kazakhstan, the Republics of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Nakhchivan, southwestern Russia, all parts of Europe, the northern half of Africa, all parts of North and Central America and the northern half of South America.

  3. Crescent sighting experts predict that this crescent moon will be visible in no part of the world on Monday evening, April 8, 2024. Yet, on Tuesday evening, the crescent will be visible all over the world except in Oceania and northeastern Russia.

  * Considering the new istiftā’, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei d. maintains that you may follow the opinion of the experts if it makes you confident that the crescent is visible.