Public division

It became normal for people to start talking about the moon sighting every time we come closer to celebrate the two Eids of the year as their timing depends on the moon sighting of that lunar month as per the Islamic calendar. This year, the moon was not sighted on the 29th of the lunar month as no reports were received by the formed committee that was reporting live on TV just before and after the sun set the other day. And as per the sharia law, the month becomes 30 days for that month. What surprises me is the public. They are divided into two camps. One that support the decision of the committee for not announcing the sight of the moon and the other that is surprised why Oman has not joint some of our neighbors who announced the moon site, actually not accurate statement in a way but as they already completed 30 days of that lunar month they had to start a new lunar month. It seems it is very difficult for people to imagine how come one country could sight the moon while other not even though they are, in their opinion, are located almost on the same latitude. I hear one saying, “Did you see the moon last night? It was big, and lasted long time before it set in the west”. All that to justify that we should have announce the moon sight. I could image how difficult for those who could explain what has happened, as it is not easy to deliver complex matter to a street person without getting to explain terms like conjunction, ecliptic longitude and ephemeris tables. I believe that when the time comes where people get excited to sight the moon and gather outside with their binoculars and telescopes. The town will not get confused as they will know how difficult it is to sight the moon if it is just few degrees from the sun.
Happy gazing