The Shawwal moon was not sighted in Pakistan on Thursday, as a result of which Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated across the country on Saturday, (April 22) — making Ramadan of 30 days.
While giving a press conference in Islamabad, Chairman of the Central Sawal Hilal Committee, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad said that we have not received any evidence of sighting of Shawwal moon across the country.
He added that “Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Saturday, April 22 across the country.
This came after the meeting of the press committee – held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs under the chairmanship of Maulana Khabeer – ended.
In the meeting, the members of the Central Sawing of the Crescent Committee, representatives of Meteorological Department, SPARCO and other related institutions were present.
The committee took this decision after receiving information regarding the sighting of the moon from across the country.
Earlier, the zonal committees of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Sukkur and Quetta had confirmed that they had not received any evidence of moon sighting.
In Karachi, Hafiz Muhammad Salafi – who chaired the meeting in Metropolis – said the moon could not be seen in the city because the zonal committee did not receive testimonies.
He said that the moon could be seen at 7:17 pm.
Similarly, in Lahore, the moon could be seen at 7:10 PM. However, dark clouds and strong winds prevented the possibility of seeing the moon.
The zonal committees of Peshawar, Quetta and Sukkur confirmed that the moon was not sighted and no testimony was received from anyone.
Meteorological department and astronomers had earlier said that the chances of moon sighting today are low and Eid-ul-Fitr will be on Saturday.
The federal government has announced that the Eid al-Fitr holidays will begin tomorrow (Friday) and continue till Tuesday (April 25).
Global
The moon was sighted in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as a result of which the Gulf states will celebrate a religious event on Friday.
The Australian Muslim Council announced in a statement that since the Eid moon was not sighted today, the religious festival will be celebrated in the country on April 22 (Saturday).
According to international media, Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on April 22 in Brunei, Japan, Philippines and Thailand.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore will also celebrate Eid on Saturday as the moon is not visible. The meeting will be called tomorrow (Friday) for moon sighting in Bangladesh.
