Ramadan moon not sighted in Pakistan, first roza to be on March 2

The moon for the holy month of Ramadan 1446 Hijri was not sighted anywhere in Pakistan. As a result, the first fast (roza) will be observed on Sunday, March 2.

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee convened in Peshawar on Friday under Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad. After the meeting, the committee held a press conference to announce that the moon had not been sighted in the country, Express News reported.

Various zonal committees for moon sighting also held meetings across the country with representatives from the Meteorological Department and SUPARCO in attendance.

However, no reports of moon sightings were received from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad or Quetta, and the central committee was informed of this development, local media reported.

A day earlier, the Met Office had forecast partly cloudy conditions across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, over the next 24 hours. "Due to cloudy weather, the chance of sighting the Ramadan moon is low," the department said.

The PMD noted that at sunset, the moon’s age would be around 12 hours, with a moon-sun angular separation of about five degrees—factors that could further reduce visibility.

The Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) had previously predicted that Ramadan would likely begin after Saturday evening, based on calculations of the moon’s visibility.