Ramazan crescent sighting meeting on Tuesday evening

ISLAMABAD: An unprecedented meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will be held in Peshawar on Tuesday (Apr 13) to sight the crescent moon of Ramazan-ul-Mubarak— an auspicious month-long festival during which the Muslims will not eat or drink from pre-dawn to dusk.

Chairman, Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Maulana Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad will chair the meeting of the committee, to be held at office of the Administrator (Auqaf), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Eidgah Charsadda Road, Peshawar.

The start of Ramadan is determined by the lunar calendar which, unlike the Gregorian calendar, follows a 29- or 30-day cycle determined by the cycle of the moon.

This will be the first Ramadan -the ninth month of the Islamic calendar - moon sighting under new chairman, Moulana Azad, who was appointed by the federal government in December last year, replacing Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman.

The new chairman said in January that he would try his best to bring harmony in observing Ramazan and celebrating Eid in the country in the years to come.

"The entire nation will observe unified Ramadan fasting and Eid Al-Fitr, he had said.

The meeting of the Zonal Ruet-e-Hilal Committee ICT (Islamabad Capital Territory) will be held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Pak Secretariat, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad.

The meetings of provincial/ district/zonal committees will be held at their respective provincial/ district headquarters.

Whoever sights the crescent by naked eyes or through binoculars will report to his testimony to Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad on mobile no. 0321-9410041.

The information regarding crescent sighting can also be conveyed to Syed Mushahid Hussain Khalid, Director General, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on his mobile no. 0300 6831822, Hafiz Abdul Quddoos, Deputy Director of the Ministry on mobile no. 0333-2697051 and Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, member Central Ruet-e- Hilal Committee on 0300-5947909.

The moon sighting information could also be shared on landline numbers 091-2042233, 091-2043428 to administrator Auqaf Jamaluddin.

The chairman will announce the decision of crescent sighting or otherwise subsequently on the basis of information received to his end.

According to Ministry of Science and Technology and Meteorological Department the chances of sighting crescent moon of Ramazan will be bright in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi on Tuesday evening.

Thus the holy month will most likely to begin on Wednesday.