ISLAMABAD: The Rabiul Awwal crescent was not sighted in the country on Saturday, according to the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee chairman.

The third Islamic month will commence on Monday and 12 Rabiul Awwal (Eid Milad) will fall on Friday, September 29, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad announced after the committee’s meeting at the Ministry of Religious Affairs office on Saturday.

According to Mr Azad, zonal Ruet-i-Hilal committees were contacted after the central committee failed to sight the moon in Islamabad, but no evidence of sighting was received from any part of the country, including Islamabad, Quetta, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore.

“Weather was cloudy in most places of Pakistan and clear in some places,” Mr Azad said.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs later issued a notification announcing the same. The meeting in Islamabad was attended by the members of both the Central and Zonal Ruet-i-Hilal Committees.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2023