Bangladesh will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Tuesday as the Shawwal moon was not sighted in Bangladesh on Sunday evening. “The Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Tuesday as Shawwal moon was sighted nowhere in 64 districts of the country,” said State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan on Sunday. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Moon Sighting Committee after reviewing the information of Shawwal moon sighting at the Baitul Mukarram office of Islamic Foundation. Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated after a month of fasting Also read: DMP to devotees: Bring nothing but prayer mats and umbrellas at National Eidgah The main congregation of Eid-ul-Fitr will be held at 8:30am at the National Eidgah on the High Court premises in the capital on the Eid day.There will be five Eid jamaats (congregations) at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on the day. The largest Eid congregation at Sholakia Eidgah Maidan in Kishoreganj will be held at 10am on Eid day, after a Covid-induced hiatus of two years. Thousands of people have already left the capital to celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones at their respective village homes. Also read: Eid-ul-Fitr being celebrated in two Chandpur villages

Muslims in Bangladesh will start observing the holy month of Ramadan, the lunar month of self-purification through fasting and abstinence, from Sunday as the new crescent moon was sighted on Saturday. Lailatul Qadr, the night of divine blessings and benediction, will be observed on the night of April 28. The National Moon Sighting Committee took the decision at a meeting held at Islamic Foundation's Baitul Mukarram office. State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan chaired the meeting. Muslims are meant to fast from dawn to dusk during the lunar month, a time of restraint and austerity. The government has rearranged the office timing for the holy month of Ramadan from 9 am to 3:30 pm for all government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions. Besides, as classes were hampered for the Covid-19 pandemic, secondary and higher secondary institutions have been requested to continue in-person classes till April 26 to make up the academic losses. Also read: Healthy Sehri Ideas: What to eat and avoid for Sehri during Ramadan Meanwhile, residents of as many as 40 villages in Chandpur district began the holy fasting month of Ramadan Saturday, in accordance with Saudi Arabia. The villagers across the upazilas of Faridganj, Matlab North, Kachua and Shahrasti offered their Tarabi prayers last night and began their dawn-to-sunset fast after having ‘Sehri’ before sunrise.  They have been celebrating all religious festivals like Eid and Ramadan on the lines of Saudi Arabia, home to the world's most holy Muslim sites, since 1928 Maulana Zakaria Chowdhury, in charge of Hajiganj Sadar Darbar Sharif in Chandpur. Also read: Govt to sell milk, egg, meat at subsidised rates in city during Ramadan: Ministry

 The National Moon Sighting Committee will sit on Tuesday to ascertain the commencement of holy Ramadan, the lunar month of self-purification through fasting and abstinence.   The meeting will be held at the conference room of the Islamic Foundation's Baitul Mukarram office in the capital around 6:45 pm after Maghrib prayers.   State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque will preside over the meeting.   Also read: National Moon Sighting Committee meets Saturday    People, if they see the moon anywhere in the country, have been requested to inform the committee by dialling telephone numbers 9559493, 9555947, 9556407 and 9558337 or faxing - 9563397 and 9555951.   Also read: National Moon Sighting Committee to sit Tuesday