"Therefore, the beginning of Ramadan – if the moon is sighted Monday – will fall on Tuesday, October 4," Qaradawi said.

DOHA , October 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Prominent scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi said Muslims can sight the new moon after noon Monday, October 3, when the sun reaches its zenith.

"If the moon is sighted after noon, Muslim scholars agree that the following day marks the beginning of the new month (Ramadan)," Qaradawi said in a fatwa, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net on Sunday, October 2.

Qaradawi, the head of the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), said calculations indicate that a partial eclipse will occur after 12:30 p.m. on Monday.

"At that time, the Ramadan moon will be born and could be seen in the Gulf region using special glasses."

The renowned scholar expected a better sighting of the new moon in both Libya and Sudan .

"Therefore, the beginning of Ramadan – if the moon is sighted Monday – will fall on Tuesday, October 4."

An annular eclipse of the sun will occur on Monday, 3 October, which will be visible within a narrow corridor that traverses the Iberian peninsula and parts of Africa . A partial solar eclipse will also be visible over large parts of Europe, west Asia, the Middle East, and Africa . The eclipse will start in the North Atlantic at 8:41 UT (Universal Time), and end in the Indian Ocean at 12:22 UT, sunset local time.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in a direct line between the Earth and the sun. For an eclipse to take place, the moon must be a new moon. This means that people in the path of the eclipse on Monday will be able to literally sight the birth of this Ramadan’s new moon – known as a dark moon in its first phase – during the eclipse itself. According to astronomer Dr. Khaled Al-Sebai in an interview with the Qatar News Agency, for the first crescent to be seen, the moon must move seven degrees away from the sun. On Monday evening, it will only have moved two degrees away from the sun. This means that after the eclipse, the first crescent will most probably not be seen until the following Tuesday evening.

This has sparked a heated debate as to whether the sighting of the birth of the new moon during the solar eclipse on Monday passes as the official sighting based on which the first day of Ramadan can be announced as the following day.

Moon sighting has always been a controversial issue among Muslim countries, and even scholars seem at odds over the issue.

While one group of scholars sees that Muslims in other regions and countries are to follow this sighting as long as these countries share one part of the night, another states that Muslims everywhere should abide by the lunar calendar of Saudi Arabia .

A third, however, disputes both views, arguing that Islam is against division and disunity, since Muslims, for instance, are not allowed to hold two congregational prayers in one mosque at the same time.

This group believes that the authority in charge of ascertaining the sighting of the moon in a given country (such as Egypt 's Dar al-Iftaa [House of Fatwa]) announces the sighting of the new moon, then Muslims in the country should all abide by this.