On Thursday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) announced that the chances of sighting the Eid ul Fitr moon are very low due to the solar eclipse. This applies to several countries including Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is scheduled to meet today in Islamabad to sight the Shawwal moon. The meeting will be held at the religious affairs ministry and will be chaired by Ruet-e-Halal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad.
Zonal committees will also hold meetings at designated locations throughout the country. Earlier, Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council Secretary General Khalid Aijaz confirmed that the crescent marking the beginning of Shawwal will be sighted after 30 days of Ramadan, meaning that Eid ul Fitr will fall on April 22, Saturday.
According to Aijaz, the new moon will be born at 9:13 am on April 20, and its age will be less than 10 hours that day. Therefore, the crescent cannot be sighted since its duration should be more than 19 hours. Any testimony received on April 20 will be false as the month of Ramadan will last for 30 days. The federal government has already announced a five-day Eid holiday from April 21 to 25.
