There was confusion on Saturday night over whether the new moon of Shawwal was sighted in Nigeria to mark the end of the Muslim Ramadan fast. The Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad, who is also the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, had around midnight on Saturday announced the sighting of the new moon and therefore the end of Ramadan.
“The new month of Shawwal was sighted in different places within Nigeria and therefore tomorrow (Sunday) is the first day of Shawwal equivalent to 27 July 2014,” the Sultan said in an announcement aired on the Nigerian Television Authority [NTA]. But when contacted after the Sultan’s announcement, the Secretary-General of the organisation, Is-haq Oloyede, a professor of Islamic Studies, said he was not aware that the moon had been sighted.
“I spoke to the Sultan about four times tonight and he did not tell me that the moon has been sighted,” Mr. Oloyede told newsmen. “In any case, any such claim is ridiculous and unscientific. It cannot be right. The National Moon-Sighting Committee has not informed us of any credible sighting of the moon. Rather, they said the moon wasn’t sighted. The new moon was only born at 11:45 P.M. tonight (Saturday) and it will take several hours for it to be sighted.
“Is our own sky different? Is our own moon manufactured in Nigeria?” Professor Oloyede urged Muslims to continue their fast on Sunday and prepare for Eid-Fitri on Monday in line with the verdict of the National Moon-Sighting Committee, [NMC]. It was learnt that the chairman of the NMC, Hafiz Wali, from Kano, had on Saturday night forwarded the report of his committee to the Sultan and Mr. Oloyede, indicating that the moon had not been sighted...."
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