The meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to sight the moon for the holy month of Ramazan has been convened in Peshawar on February 18. The meeting will be chaired by Chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad. The final announcement regarding the Ramazan moon sighting would be made by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, Chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.

Zonal committee meetings will also be held in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta for which the Ministry of Religious Affairs has issued a notification. Meanwhile, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that the Ramazan moon will be sighted on the evening of Wednesday, February 18, and the holy month of Ramazan is likely to begin on February 19.

The PMD’s Climate Data Processing Centre stated that, based on astronomical calculations, there is a strong possibility of sighting the Ramazan 1447 AH moon on February 18, which corresponds to the 29th of Shaban. Officials said the new moon will be born on February 17 at 5:01pm. Weather conditions across most parts of the country are forecast to remain clear or partly cloudy on February 18, increasing the likelihood of visibility.

The department also shared the expected final timings for moon sighting across different regions: 6:58pm in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 7:47pm in Balochistan, 7:24pm in Sindh, 7:13pm in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 7:08pm in Punjab, and 6:53pm in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)