The beautiful lunarcy of Eid El-Fitr

Muslims the world over are currently celebrating Eid El-Fitr - or La Korité as it’s called here - feasting heartily to end a long hard month of fasting for Ramadan.

Except in Senegal. Where we're not quite sure if we are or not. Not because there is ambivalence about religious faith - Senegal is supposedly the country that Googles the Koran more than any other - but because we are arguing about the moon.

The ambiguity of national and religious holidays has always confused me since coming here. I've always thought the moon was on a predictable, scientific cycle of 28 days or so, making it possible to predict the end of Ramadan not just this year but in, like, 2352 for example. But there is a reason I am not a respected Imam I guess. Other than the embarrassing gingerness of my beard.

So whilst most of the muslim world feasted tonight, my Senegalese compatriots must wait another day - or maybe two - as the "Commission Nationale de Concertation sur le Croissant Lunaire" proclaims when the moon has been viewed in accordance to scriptures.

Yes, a commission about the moon might sound a bit over the top. But remember Britain had a quango called “The Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wines” before George Osborne swung his axe. This commission (not the wine one) is in place because, whilst the process of spotting the moon is the same as in many other places, in Senegal there are multiple 'confreries' (brotherhoods) with differing interpretations. It can be controversial stuff.

So as I write I don't know if I'm off work tomorrow or not. And for 12 million or so Senegalese who have been fasting hard for four weeks, they don't know if they have another day or two to go -  something that sounds like torture to someone who needs to know where the next hit of bourbon biscuits will come from.

Having eaten and drank my way around three British weddings during Ramadan, I have little right to feast myself. But if you have been fasting, congratulations on (maybe) having completed a month of sacrifice and prayer. It's genuinely an impressive sight to see a whole country and faith dedicate itself to deferring instant gratification in the name of something higher, especially in the brutal heat and humidity of a Senegalese August. So no matter what moon you're under, or what commission you listen to, Eid Mubarak to you and all your loved ones!