HIBAPRESS – Abdellatif Elbaz
With the announcement by the Saudi Supreme Court of the sighting of the Ramadan crescent and the determination that tomorrow will be the first day of the month in Saudi Arabia, several Islamic centers in Europe rushed to adopt the same decision. However, the Italian scene was not of one mind, as some bodies chose to announce Thursday as the start of the fast, in a scene that reflects a division that is repeated year after year.
In Italy, where there is no unified religious authority representing all Muslims, the community is distributed among various federations and institutions, most notably the Union of Islamic Organizations and Communities in Italy, along with other institutions linked to major mosques such as the Great Mosque of Rome. This multiplicity, while reflecting cultural and sectarian diversity, turns into a source of public confusion regarding the determination of the first days of fasting every Ramadan season. The difference in itself is not new in Islamic jurisprudence, between those who rely on local visual sighting, those who take astronomical calculations, and those who link the announcement to a specific country. But the problem in the Italian case goes beyond the scientific discussion to the absence of clear institutional coordination, which puts Muslim families in front of two options in the same city: mosques that start fasting on Thursday and others on Friday. This reality raises serious questions about the responsibility of religious leaders in managing the dispute. The Muslim community in Italy, which faces challenges of integration, legal and social representation, seems to need a unified discourse and more effective consultation mechanisms, not a division that is repeated annually and weakens its image in the public eye. Ramadan is a unifying occasion, which is supposed to enhance the spirit of solidarity and cohesion within the Muslim community. However, the continuation of this discrepancy in announcing its beginning reveals a deeper organizational defect, which requires serious institutional treatment, balancing respect for jurisprudential diligence and maintaining unity. The crescent is one, but the decision in Italy is still more than one.
