11:20 PM CDT: Eid-ul-Fitr will be on Thursday, August 8, 2013. We have received authentic sighting reports from Arizona and California. These reports were received after we made the decision earlier. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The committee reversed their earlier decision since confirmed sighting reports came back Phoenix, Arizonia as well as Los Angeles and Stockton, California. The committee promptly verified the reports once received, regrouped and made the declaration for Eid to be on Thursday, August 8th.
We wish everyone a happy and blessed Eid. Ramadan will complete with 29 days and Shawwal will begin on Thursday, August 8, 2013.
9:55 PM CDT:
We have still not received any authentic moon sighting reports from anywhere in North America. The committee is aware of the sightings in Chile. However, Chile is not within the criteria as established by the committee. We will continue to wait for the West to see if there are any sighting reports from there. We hope to have a final decision around 10:45 PM CDT.
9:05 PM CDT:
We have heard from our representatives in the Caribbean (Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana). The moon was not seen in any of the islands. We have also heard from our representatives in Texas. The horizon was clear and the moon was not sighted. We are continuing to talk to our representatives through out the Midwest and will wait until the sun sets in the West around 10:10 PM CDT.
8:45 PM CDT:
We have contacted our representatives in Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia in the East Coast. All of these places were cloudy and there were no sighting reports from there.
Since the possibility of sighting the moon is very slim according to visibility forecasts, we will be waiting till at least 10:30 PM CDT since sunset is around 10:10 PM CDT in the West Coast.
7:00 PM CDT:
The Chicago Hilal Committee meeting is in session. We are contacting our representativs through out North America. There have been no valid moon sighting reports from anywhere in North America. We will continue making updates as we get more information.
7/15/2013:
The Chicago Hilal Committee will meet on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 (Ramadan 29, 1434) to determine the start of Shawwal 1434 (Eid-ul-Fitr).
If the moon is sighted on Wednesday night within North America, the 1st of Shawwal (Eid-ul-Fitr) will be Thursday, August 8, 2013. If the moon is not sighted on Wednesday night, Ramadan will complete its course of 30 days and Shawwal will begin on Friday, August 9, 2013.
The first updates on chicagohilal.org are expected to occur around 7:00 PM CDT. Updates will be made periodically after that as representatives through out North American are contacted. If the moon is not seen in the Caribbean, East Coast or the Midwest, the committee will wait to hear from the West Coast (whose sunset is around 10:00 PM CDT) before making a final decision.
