However, depending on where they are from, Muslims don’t always agree about when the new moon arises. Though the crescent was not spotted in Fremont on the night Ramadan ended, there were numerous sightings elsewhere in the country. So Eid was be celebrated the next day.

However, Fremont’s large Afghan community was already celebrating Eid on Tuesday.

“Our Afghan brothers won’t be coming as they are celebrating Eid today,” one elderly man said to another as they prepared for prayers at the ISEB mosque. They both speak the native tongue, Urdu, and wear the native dress, baggy trousers and long shirt, of Pakistan.

Most of the non-Afghan Muslim population in Fremont is of Indian or Pakistani origin. In those countries, it is traditional to celebrate Eid depending on the physical sighting of the moon. This is the criterion at the ISEB, which is the largest mosque in the East Bay. Though there was no sighting from the mosque roof, witness accounts from mosques in Chicago and Florida are proof enough, says Ahmed.

Despite the differences though, the Muslim community here is largely harmonious, said Ahsan Baig, chairman of the mosque’s outreach committee.

“There are always differences, but there is no conflict,” he said. There are differences in some of the religious methodologies that the two dozen nationalities the mosque serves, he said, “but the core remains the same.”

“Islam is a very natural religion,” Baig said. Looking at the moon requires no technology or education and is a simple way to tell when Ramadhan ends, he said.

“And if you don’t see the moon you can wait for sightings from other people, as we did here,” Baig said. Calculation of the moon’s phases using modern mathematical and technological methods is fine too, he added. “All these methods are permissible, whether you go by calculation, by moon-sighting, or follow Saudi Arabia.”