Strong possibility of Ramazan moon sighting in Karachi today: PMD

KARACHI: Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that there is a strong possibility of Ramazan moon sighting today, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

For the Ramazan moon sighting, the session of the zonal committee will be held at Pakistan Met Office in Karachi today. Sources said that the age of the crescent is 20 hours and 44 minutes, however, the weather is cloudy.

According to the Met Department, there is a strong possibility of Ramazan crescent sighting in Karachi if the clouds are cleared.

It said the new moon of Ramazan 1444 AH was expected to be born on the crossing conjunction point at 22-23 PST on March 21.

READ: RUET-E-HILAL COMMITTEE MEETS TODAY FOR RAMAZAN MOON SIGHTING

The Central Reut-e-Hilal Commission (RHC) session will be held under the chair of Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad at the Auqaf Hall in Peshawar – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) today.

The session will be attended by central and zonal RHC members, representatives of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, SUPARCO, Met Department and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The zonal committee sessions will be held at the headquarters in major cities including Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad.

The RHC also issued numbers for the citizens to report the sighting of crescent in their respective areas.

Yesterday, the Ramazan moon was not sighted in Saudi Arabia and the first day of fasting will fall on March 23 (Thursday).

READ: WHEN WILL RAMADAN BEGIN IN PAKISTAN?

According to details, March 22 (Wednesday) would be the last day of the month of Sha’ban, and the holy month would begin on Thursday, March 23.

Saudi Arabia’s moon sighting committee will meet again on Wednesday evening to confirm the sighting of the moon.

Ramazan is the month in which the Holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), and the faithful observe the ninth month of the Islamic calendar with prayers and fasting.

During Ramazan, Muslims fast from sunrise (Fajr) to sunset (Maghreb).