The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee (RHC) on Tuesday announced that it has not sighted the Zilhaj moon, meaning Pakistan would observe Eidul Azha on June 7.

The committee’s meeting took place on a roof in Islamabad’s Kohsar Block, where the religious affairs ministry has its office.

Addressing a press conference, RHC Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad said, “No testimony of sighting the moon of the month of Zilhaj was received from any part of Pakistan […]. Therefore, it was decided with consensus that Zilhaj 1, 1446AH would be on May 29, Thursday and Eidul Azha would be observed on June 7, Saturday.”

He noted that the weather remained cloudy in most parts of the country and clear in some.

Maulana Azad presided over the meeting of the RHC earlier in the evening, with officials and experts from other departments also gathered to sight the moon.

Simultaneous zonal meetings of the RHC also took place at their respective headquarters in the provincial capitals to send testimonies.

Dr Mohammad Hasan Ali, director of the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics at the Pakistan Meteorological Department; Shaukatullah Khan of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco); and Zainul Abedin from the science and tech ministry were among those present during the meeting, Azad said.

Earlier this week, Suparco predicted that the festive occasion of Eidul Azha would likely be celebrated across Pakistan on June 7.

According to Suparco, while the birth of a new moon for Zilhaj 1446 AH would occur on May 27, the possibility of the moon being sighted across the country today would be extremely low even under optimal weather conditions.

Cloudy weather reported in the federal capital further reduced the sighting probability.

Celebrated on the 10th of Zilhaj, Eidul Azha marks the culmination of Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam.