The moon for the holy month of Ramadan 1446 Hijri was not sighted anywhere in Pakistan. As a result, the first fast (roza) will be observed on Sunday, March 2.
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee met in Peshawar on Friday under the leadership of Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad.
Following the meeting, a press conference was held where it was officially announced that no moon sightings had been reported across the country, as per reports.
Zonal committees in various cities also convened to consider moon sighting reports, with officials from the Meteorological Department and SUPARCO present.
However, no confirmed sightings were received from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, or Quetta, and this information was relayed to the central committee, local media reported.
A day before, the Met Office had expected partly cloudy weather across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, particularly in Peshawar, stating that “due to cloudy weather, the chance of sighting the Ramadan moon is low.”
According to the PMD, the moon at sunset was approximately 12 hours old, with a moon-sun angular separation of about five degrees, making visibility even more challenging.
Earlier, the Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) had projected that Ramadan would likely commence after Saturday evening, based on lunar visibility calculations.