Eid al-Fitr 2027: will the Shawwal crescent be seen on 8 March? Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the UK and Pakistan

By Shakir Ahmed, founder of themoontracker.com · Published 20 October 2026 · Figures checked 20 October 2026

The new moon that ends Ramadan 1448 falls on the morning of Monday 8 March 2027 (UTC). That evening, the 29th of Ramadan, the crescent cannot be seen from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the UK or Pakistan. Here is what that means for Eid, city by city.

Monday 8 March: the crescent cannot be seen

The new moon comes at 09:30 UTC, in the early afternoon in Mecca and Karachi and in the morning in London and Rabat. By sunset the Moon has had only a few hours to move away from the Sun. In Mecca the Sun sets at 6:27 PM and the Moon 8 minutes later, 6 hours after the new moon. In Karachi it sets only 5 minutes after the Sun; in Rabat 19 minutes and in London 27 minutes after. A crescent that young and that close to the Sun is too thin and too faint to be seen against the bright twilight, by eye or with a telescope. Only over the eastern Pacific, many hours later, does it become possible by eye in a very clear sky.

Tuesday 9 March: easy almost everywhere

A day later the Moon is about 30 hours old and sets about an hour after the Sun in Mecca and Karachi, 100 minutes after it in London. The crescent is easy to see by eye in all four countries, weather permitting.

City by city

The verdict of the International Astronomy Center’s criterion (Odeh) on both evenings, and how long the Moon stays up after sunset on 8 March.

How each country decides

Saudi Arabia. The printed Umm al-Qura calendar gives Tuesday 9 March, because its rule only checks that the new moon comes before sunset on the 29th and that the Moon sets after the Sun at Mecca. For Eid, the Supreme Court asks people to look for the crescent on the evening of the 29th and to register a sighting, by eye or with binoculars, at the nearest court. When no sighting is accepted, Ramadan completes 30 days, as it did in 1447: Eid was on Friday 20 March 2026.

Morocco. Committees at about 250 observation centres look for the crescent with the naked eye on the evening of the 29th and send their reports to the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs. Calculations are used only as an aid, and if the crescent is not seen the month completes 30 days (TelQuel, March 2026).

Pakistan. The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announces Eid after collecting sighting reports from across the country. In 2023 the National Assembly passed a bill that reserves the announcement for the official committees and punishes false testimony; at the time it still needed the Senate’s approval (Dawn).

United Kingdom. There is no single authority. Some mosques follow Saudi Arabia’s announcement, some follow a sighting in the UK itself, as promoted by the New Crescent Society, and some follow Morocco or the family’s country of origin (Middle East Eye). So Eid can fall on different days in the same city.

If Ramadan starts on a different day

On the evening of Sunday 7 February 2027, the crescent of Ramadan is possible by eye in a very clear sky from Mecca, London and Karachi, and easy from Rabat (see our Ramadan 2027 article). Countries that see it begin Ramadan on Monday 8 February; the 29th is then Monday 8 March, when the Shawwal crescent cannot be seen, so Ramadan completes 30 days and Eid is on Wednesday 10 March. Countries that begin Ramadan on Tuesday 9 February reach the 29th on Tuesday 9 March, when the crescent is easy to see, so Eid is again on Wednesday 10 March. Either way, the sighting points to the same day.

Compare the evenings yourself

Open Compare cities with Mecca, Rabat, London and Karachi already chosen, switch between the evenings of 8, 9 and 10 March, and add your own town. Each card shows the western sky after sunset and where the crescent will be.

Questions people ask

How we calculated this

Positions of the Sun and Moon come from Astronomy Engine for each city’s location and height. Crescent visibility is judged at the best time to look, four ninths of the way from sunset to moonset, by the Odeh (2006) criterion used by the International Astronomy Center and the Yallop (1997) criterion used by HM Nautical Almanac Office; the maps use Odeh. Umm al-Qura dates follow the calendar’s published rule. How each country decides is summarised from Saudi Supreme Court statements reported by Ajel and Bol News, TelQuel (Morocco), Dawn (Pakistan) and Middle East Eye (UK). Weather is not included.