Large parts of the Muslim world are preparing to celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and the start of the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but the festivities are overshadowed in many parts of the region by conflict and tragedy.
Shiites observe the crescent moon to determine the start of the tenth Islamic month of Shawwal, which marks the end of a month-long fasting of Ramadan and the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr festival in Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, April 20, 2023. – Large parts of the Muslim world marked the end of the fasting month of Ramadan at sundown Thursday and ushered in the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but the festivities were overshadowed by raging battles for control of Sudan and a deadly stampede in Yemen.
In Yemen, the Arab world's most impoverished nation, a stampede late Wednesday at a charitable event in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa killed at least 78 people and injured 77. However, Tehran and Riyadh disagreed on the start of he holiday — for Saudis, Eid al-Fitr would begin Friday while officials in Iran said it starts on Saturday.
Iraq's Sunni authorities announced the holiday would begin Friday, while the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, set a Saturday start date. The governments of Lebanon and Syria, both in the throes of crippling economic crises, said Friday would mark the beginning of the dayslong holiday.
Meanwhile, clerics of Pakistan's state-backed moon sighting committee announced at a news conference in Islamabad that Eid al-Fitr would be celebrated on Saturday in Pakistan as there were no sightings of the moon there.
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