The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee on Monday announced that the Ramazan moon was sighted and the first day of the holy month would fall tomorrow (March 12).

The body’s meeting was chaired by Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad at the office of Administrator Auqaf in Peshawar. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Azad said testimonies were received about the moon’s sighting from most parts of the country, including Peshawar, Lahore, Swat, Sargodha and other places.

“Thus, it was decided through consensus that Ramazan will begin on March 12.”

He congratulated the people and the Muslim community on the arrival of the holy month.

Earlier, he said the sun would set around 6:20pm today, after which the committee members throughout the country would try to see the Ramazan moon.

He had emphasised that similar meetings of zonal committees across the country would be held at their respective headquarters in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad to decide the moon-sighting of the holy month of Ramazan, 1445 AH.

Maulana Azad had appealed to all citizens to be vigilant in sighting the moon, expressing hope for a unified day of fasting for the country.

Moon sighted in Saudi Arabia, UAE

Meanwhile, the Ramazan moon was sighted on Sunday evening in Saudi Arabia, according to the local media. Therefore, the holy month has begun in the kingdom on Monday, March 11.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia had called on Muslims to sight the crescent of Ramazan. The Supreme Court called on whoever sights the crescent — either by the naked eye or through binoculars — to report to the nearest court and register their observation, Khaleej Times reported.

The holy month also began in the UAE on Monday, March 11, as the country’s moon-sighting committee said the crescent moon for the holy month was spotted on Sunday evening.

Several other countries have already announced March 12 as the beginning of Ramazan, including Australia, Malaysia, Phili­ppines and Brunei.

Oman, too, has anno­unced that it will observe the beginning of Ramazan on March 12, as there was no sighting of the crescent moon on Sunday evening