Eid on Tuesday as Shawwal moon not sighted

Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated in the country Tuesday  as the Shawwal moon was not sighted in Bangladesh this evening.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Moon Sighting Committee at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on Sunday evening. 

The committee made the call  after reviewing data from all district administrations, Islamic Foundation head offices, divisional and district offices, the Meteorological Department and space research and remote sensing institutes.

With State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan in the chair, the meeting was attended by Religion Secretary Kazi Enamul Hasan, Chief Information Officer (Additional Responsibilities) Shahenur Mia, Director General (Additional Secretary) of the Islamic Foundation Mushfiqur Rahman, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Munim Hasan, Joint Secretary of the Cabinet Division Chaiful Islam, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Nazrul. Islam, Dhaka District ADC Ilias Mehedi, Bangladesh Television Director (Administration and Finance) Zahirul Islam.

The largest religious festival of Muslims will be celebrated amid religious fervour and enthusiasm after a month of fasting.

This year, Eid will be celebrated with even more festivity as outdoor programmes and Eid jamaat at Eidgahs across the country are returning after two years of tamed down celebrations due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The main jamaat of this Eid-ul-Fitr will be held at the National Eidgah on the High Court premises in Dhaka at 8:30am.

If the congregation cannot be held due to inclement weather or any other unavoidable reason, the main jamaat will be held at 9am at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.

Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said all preparations have been taken for holding Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at the National Eidgah.

"About 35,000 devotees will be able to perform Eid Jamaat together at the National Eidgah under our arrangements," he said while talking to the press after inspecting the preparation there on Saturday.

"Prayer arrangements for 3,500 female worshippers have also been made," Taposh added.

The Dhaka South city mayor further said, "We are very delighted that we will be able to offer Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at the National Eidgah again after almost two years of overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic. We made all the arrangements for this."

There will be five jamaats (congregations) at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr this year.

A handout issued by the mosque authorities revealed the schedule on Saturday.

The first Eid jamaat will be held at 7am while the next four will be administered at 8am, 9am, 10am, and 10:45am respectively.

Meanwhile, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said that intelligence reports suggest that there is no fear of terrorist activities centering Eid-Ul-Fitr.

"Analysing various data including cyber monitoring, no specific information was found about any kind of militant attack on Eid,"  RAB Director General Abdullah Al-Mamun said Sunday.