Moon sighted, Ramazan to begin from Thursday

Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad announces decision following a meeting in Peshawar

The Ramazan moon was sighted and the holy month will commence in Pakistan from Thursday, March 23, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced on Wednesday.

The announcement was made following a meeting of the central and zonal Ruet-e-Hilal committees for sighting the crescent of the Islamic month in Peshawar.

The meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal committee was chaired by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad at the Auqaf Hall, Peshawar, while the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) zonal moon-sighting committee also met at the same venue.

Meetings of other zonal committees were also held in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Quetta simultaneously.

Representatives of Department of Astronomy, Department of Meteorology, Science and Technology also attended the meeting in Peshawar.

Announcing the decision, Maulana Azad said the committee received multiple testimonies of moon-sighting from various areas across the country including Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Swabi districts.

The moon was not sighted in India and Bangladesh, where first day of Ramazan will fall on Friday.

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, had earlier 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 23

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.