THE glint of a crescent moon in the twilight sky on Friday (or the eve of Saturday in the Hijri calendar) will gesture to the world's more than a billion Muslims that the holy month of Ramadan has begun even as many Islamic scholars believe that the first day of the fast will most likely fall today, April 2, considering that scientific calculations reveal the new moon will appear after noontime on Friday.

Aleem Said Ahmad Basher, a graduate of the College of Islamic Propagation from the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, told The Manila Times that the first day of Ramadan will most likely be on April 2, equivalent to Ramadan 1, 1443 and the last day of fasting will be on Sunday, May 1, 2022 equivalent to Ramadan 30, 1443.