By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: Pakistan will begin the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Thursday after the crescent moon was sighted on Wednesday, the country’s moon-sighting committee announced, aligning the South Asian nation with neighbours Bangladesh and India.
The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, which met in the northwestern city of Peshawar, made the decision based on testimonies from across the country, said its chairman, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad. “Testimonies were received from several parts of the country, including Quetta, Islamabad, Waziristan, Dir, Karachi, Buner, Mardan and Tando Allahyar,” Azad told reporters after the meeting. “Therefore, it was decided with consensus that the first day of Ramazan would be on Thursday.”
He added that the skies were clear in some areas and cloudy in others.The committee convened around 5 p.m. local time, with zonal committees across Pakistan also gathering to collect reports of moon sightings. Reports of testimonies began coming in around 6:30 p.m., with officials indicating at least 40 were received, primarily from areas in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Pakistan Meteorological Department and the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) assisted the committee. Suparco had earlier forecast that the crescent for Ramadan 1447 Hijri would be visible on Wednesday, and had predicted earlier this month that the first day of the month was likely to fall on Feb. 19, based on the moon’s expected age.
Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper reported that the crescent moon was sighted there on Wednesday, while India’s The Hindu said it was also spotted in the country, meaning all three South Asian nations will observe the start of Ramadan on the same day.
In contrast, several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, marked the first day of Ramadan on Wednesday after sighting the crescent a day earlier on Tuesday. Afghanistan also began fasting on Wednesday. Countries that reported no sighting on Tuesday included Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Japan, Turkiye, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a Rs38 billion Ramadan Relief Package for 12.1 million deserving families across Pakistan’s four provinces, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “Every deserving family will receive Rs13,000 through a digital wallet or bank transfer, without discrimination based on party affiliation or point of view,” Sharif said.
More than a billion Muslims around the world welcome Ramadan with deep religious devotion, fasting from dawn to dusk to practice patience, self-discipline and generosity. Islamic months last either 29 or 30 days, with their start and end determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, meaning Ramadan does not fall on the same Gregorian date each year. As the ninth month of the 12-month Islamic calendar, which is about 10 days shorter than the Gregorian year due to its lunar basis, Ramadan shifts annually across the Gregorian calendar.
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