Ramadan moon sighted, fist fast on Sunday

PESHAWAR: The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Saturday announced that the Ramadan moon has been sighted and the first of fast of the holy month will fall on Sunday (tomorrow).

The announcement was made by Chairman Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad from Peshawar where he was chairing the meeting to sight the moon. The zonal committees of the central body met in Lahore, Quetta, Karachi and Islamabad

Maulana Khabeer said the moon was sighted in Lahore, Narowal, Islamabad, Sialkot, Kasur, Pakpattan, Kharian, Karak, and other places, while a substantial number of people also reported that they had seen the moon.

"May Allah make this month a blessing for us," the chairman of the committee said, noting that the entire country will observe the holy month together from tomorrow (April 3).

The moon was expected to be sighted as the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had said that the chances of sighting the moon was "highly likely".

The moon for the holy month was sighted a day after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and several other countries said that they will observe the holy month from today.

Aside from the UAE, countries that align themselves with the Saudi Arabian moon sighting include Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chechnia, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq (Sunnis follow Saudi), Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Palestine, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tatarstan, Togo, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.