Chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabeer Azad, on Wednesday, hoped that Pakistan will observe the first fast of Ramadan on the same day across the country this year.
Speaking on Geo News’ programme “Geo Pakistan”, Maulana Azad said that for the past several years, a single nationwide fasting day has been announced and, God willing, the same practice will continue this year as well.
He said the meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to sight the Ramadan moon will be held today in Peshawar. He added that separate meetings of the zonal Ruet-e-Hilal committees will also be taking place in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad.
Maulana Azad said that representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Pakistan Meteorological Department and the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) are part of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.
He said the Ministry of Science and the Meteorological Department provide technical guidance to the committee during the moon-sighting process.
According to a Suparco spokesperson, there is a strong possibility that the first day of Ramadan will be observed tomorrow (Thursday).
The spokesperson said the new moon was born on Tuesday at 5:01pm PST. At the time of sunset today, the age of the moon will be approximately 25 hours and 48 minutes, making the crescent likely to be visible to the naked eye.
The spokesperson further said that the final and official announcement regarding the sighting of the Ramadan moon will be made by the Chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.
