ALMAJMA'AH, Saudi Arabia: Deep in the Saudi Arabian desert, a group of robed men are peering into the sky, trying to spot the crescent moon that signifies the start of Ramadan. Their work is significant: an official sighting of the moon begins a month of fasting and prayer for millions of Muslims in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam's holiest sites, and beyond. "I feel a great responsibility, before God above all ... and I seek success because the matter is related to the fasting of all Muslims," said Abdullah Al-Khudairi, director of the Majmaah University Astronomical Observatory.

After much squinting, and using a large yellow triangle and protractor to work out where the moon will appear, the anxiety lifts: the moon is sighted, just after sunset. "The crescent has been seen. Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan," Al-Khudairi told AFP. The news is relayed to the Royal Court, which duly announces Saturday as the start of the holy month.

A similar process has played out for centuries, following the instructions decreed by the Prophet Mohammed about 1,400 years ago. Several Muslim countries follow the announcement from Saudi Arabia, the Prophet's birthplace, in declaring the start of Ramadan. Although this group, one of 12 moon-sighting teams deployed around the kingdom, is equipped with high-tech telescopes, Saudi religious authorities insist the celestial body must be spotted with the naked eye. Al-Khudairi, 58, takes his task so seriously that he stays away from smartphones and computer screens year-round, fearing they will dim his eyesight. "I don't use the phone except for calls and I don't turn on the computer ... Colleagues do that for me, so I don't use screens at all," he told AFP.

'Ability to focus'

The spotting team, wearing traditional kandora robes and red-and-white ghutrah headdresses, have driven about 30 minutes from the observatory down bumpy desert tracks to a rocky promontory about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Riyadh. Al-Khudairi inherited his passion for astronomy from his father, who would often take him on trips to the desert. But he says his success in moon-sighting is down to his vision and concentration.

Seeing the crescent with the naked eye demands "sharp eyesight, color differentiation, and the ability to focus", he said. "Not just anyone can say they saw the crescent; the person must be sane, balanced, adult, and known for justice for their testimony to be accepted," added Al-Khudairi.

Sighting expeditions are often unsuccessful, delaying the start of Ramadan for a day. "Stirred dust, clouds or industrial and environmental pollution" can all obscure the view," Khudairi said. Meanwhile, in the neighboring United Arab Emirates, authorities took a more modern approach: flying drones equipped with artificial intelligence in an attempt to capture the moon. "This method will complement traditional naked-eye sighting accounts," the official WAM news agency said, citing the UAE Council for Fatwa. — AFP