Methods Used for Beginnig Islamic Months . . There are several different methods adopted by different Islamic countries or Islamic organizations for beginning of an Islamic month. Example of this are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Morocco. Some countries use the calculations with the convention that if the moon set occurs after sunset, then the next day is the first day of the Islamic Month. Example of this method is Saudi Arabia, which generally uses this method but sometimes deviates from this for the months of Ramadan, Shawwal, and Zul-Qa'dah, by using claims of sighting, or other reasons.
Some countries follow the news of the beginning of the month from Saudi Arabia.
Examples of this are Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Turkey, Libya, and Afghanistan. Some countries use purely calculations with the convention that if the New Moon Birth has occured and the moon sets 5 minutes after Sunset, then the next day is the first day of the month. An example of using this method is Egypt, where calculations are done for the Western boundaries of the country, which have a better chance of seeing the moon than other parts of the country. Some small countries follow the news of the beginning of the month from larger neighboring countries. Examples of this are New Zealand following the news from Australia, and Suriname following the news from Guyana.