Ruet-e-Hilal committee to meet tomorrow for Ramazan moon sighting

Meeting of central moon-sighting committee will be chaired by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad at the Auqaf Hall in Peshawar

A meeting of the central and zonal Ruet-e-Hilal committees for sighting the crescent of Islamic month of Ramazan will be held in Peshawar on Wednesday, Express News reported.

The meeting of the central Ruet-e-Hilal committee will be chaired by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad at the Auqaf Hall, Peshawar, while the zonal moon-sighting committee will also meet at the same venue.

Meanwhile, the Qasim Ali Khan mosque in the provincial capital has also summoned a meeting of the unofficial moon-sighting committee.

The central, zonal, and local moon-sighting committees will announce whether fasting will begin based on the sighting of Ramazan moon on March 23.

Professor Dr Shahid Qureshi, a well-known astronomical scientist and former chairman of the Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science of the University of Karachi, told Express News that this year the 'birth' of the Ramazan moon will take place on the night of March 21 at 11:13 pm and will be sighted on the evening of March 22, when the sunset in Karachi will be at 6:43 pm.

Read more: Ramazan likely to begin on March 24

He said that at the same time, the crescent moon will remain on the horizon for 47 minutes and will set at 7:30 pm.

It should be remembered that at the time of sunset, the age of the crescent will be 19 hours and 30 minutes, during which the crescent will be 10 degrees above the horizon and about 0.9 per cent of the moon will be illuminated, while the distance of the moon from the earth is only 382,000 kilometres.

According to Dr Qureshi, in the light of this data, it will be easy to see the crescent from the southern regions of the country, including Karachi and Gwadar, in the evening of March 22 with binoculars, but it will be a challenge to see such a crescent with the naked eye.

He also said that if the first fast is observed on March 23, then there is no possibility of seeing the Eid moon on the evening of 29th of Ramazan, but if the first fast is observed on March 24, then the Eid moon will be very visible on the evening of 29th of Ramazan.