In response to claims by astronomers that Umm Al-Qura calendar is a few minutes ahead of the actual Fajr time, he said: “The calendar is accurate and tests were conducted throughout different regions, while the Ministry of Finance confirmed that the calendar was accurate and the claims incorrect.”

Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Baz, the former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, sent two scientific committees to the desert to watch the sunrise, and found that the Um Al-Qura calendar is accurate, he said. “The claims otherwise merely seek to confuse people.”

Meanwhile, Abdullah Al-Khodari, an astronomer, said the calendar is “three minutes ahead of the actual Fajr time as well as sunset. As such, the call to prayer is three minutes early,” he said, noting that it is his duty before Allah to make this information available.

In a recent tweet, Al-Khodari said those who claim that the Umm Al-Qura calendar is 20 minutes earlier than the actual time are wrong, as it is only three minutes.