As Eid holiday nears, Chicago-area Muslims face a recurring struggle: Scheduling time off without knowing when to celebrate

CHICAGO — Last year at the end of Ramadan, Faiza Siddiqui — like millions of Muslims each year — was waiting intently for the moon sighting announcement determining if the next day will be Eid al-Fitr, the holiday after the month of fasting.

Siddiqui, a resident physician at the University of Chicago, refreshed her browser every few seconds as the window to call off work for the holiday dwindled. Finally, around 10 p.m. May 1, the announcement was made by Chicago Hilal, Crescent Watch and other moon-sighting organizations that the moon was spotted in California and other parts of the country, meaning Eid would be the next day.

But for Siddiqui, it was too late.

“I was on a very time-sensitive rotation. … I ended up going in to work. I had to go in,” she said. “It was 10 p.m. … I felt it would be very unprofessional to ask someone to cover for me that last minute!”

That is a routine dilemma for Muslims across non-Islamic majority countries who celebrate Ramadan and both Eid holidays based on the actual moon sighting rather than the calendar date, which means they won’t know which day Eid falls on until the night before.

Some Chicago-area Muslims feel that stress this year as the end of Ramadan approaches this week, while others say they already see a shift taking place that has made it easier to have conversations at work to request time off. Whether following the moon sighting or the pre-calculated date, Muslims in the workforce are growing in size and looking for the same consideration and awareness their co-workers get for their major holidays.

Those who follow the moon sighting do so based on the Sunnah, or the traditions and practices of the Prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims. Others rely on a predetermined date for when the moon “could” be visible.

Youssef Ismail, an astronomy professor at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, and one of the founders of Crescent Watch, said sighting the new moon at the start and end of Ramadan is an extremely important and intricate responsibility.

“The moon sets after the sun on the first day, so there is a very short window to spot it,” he said. Crescent Watch relies on visibility forecasts to indicate whether a sighting of the new moon will be probable in most of North America.

On Thursday evening, when moon sighters like Ismail go looking for the new moon to determine the end of Ramadan, they will search for a thin-as-hair crescent.

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