The Official Website of Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

During the last day of the month of Ramadan, people are waiting for the arrival of the auspicious Eid-ul-Fiṭr However, the arrival of Eid-ul-Fiṭr cannot be announced until the moon is sighted One can acquire certainty about the end of the month of Ramadan in several ways which are as follows 1. One can acquire certainty by observing the moon of Shawwal with their own eyes However, the observation of the moon with a binocular or telescope is not sufficient 2. A group of people testify that they have sighted the moon and one can acquire certainty from their statement that the moon has been sighted 3. Two just Eid-ul-People bear testimony that they have sighted the moon of Shawwal Nevertheless, these two people might describe features of the moon that are different from one another such as describing different places for the moon or providing reasons which indicate that their claims of sighting the moon are wrong in which case, the beginning of the month cannot be established by their testimony 4. Thirty days from the first day of the month of Ramadan has passed in which case, there is no need to sight the moon but on the condition that the first day of Ramadan is proved accurately 5. Finally, a fully qualified Mujtahid, Al-Hakim al-Shar’i derives certainty about the sighting of the moon and he announces the arrival of Shawwal by means of his rulings Therefore, it is incumbent upon everyone to abide by his ruling unless someone is certain that the jurist is mistaken Nevertheless, in all of these cases, if one finds out afterwards that Eid-ul-Fiṭr has been announced mistakenly one must make up for the miss fast but observing kaffārah is not required.