The committee’s meeting was held at the office of the administrator of Auq­af in the provincial cap­ital with Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, head of the central moon sighting committee, in the chair.

While making the ann­ouncement at a press conference, Maulana Azad said as the sky was clear in most parts of the country, “we received testimonies of the sighting of moon from different parts of the country including Pesha­war, Lahore, Swat, Sargo­dha, Dir and other parts. It was collectively decided that the holy month will begin on Tuesday [today, March 12]”.

The meeting, according Maulana Azad, was also attended by members of the central committee including Maulana Hafiz Abdul Ghaffur, Allama Dr Muhammad Hussain Akbar, Maulana Yaseen Zafar, Mufti Ali Askar Attari, Mufti Yousaf Kashmiri, Mufti Faisal Ahmad, Qari Abul Rauf Madani, Maulana Abdul Malik Barohi, Maulana Ashraf Ali, Pir Syed Shahid Ali Jailani, Mufti Qari Mehrullah, Sahibzada Syed Habibullah Chishti and Maulana Asad Zikria.

Apart from members of the central committee, the meeting was also attended by zonal committee members including Maulana Ehsanul Haq, Maulana Muhammad Ali Shah, Allama Abid Hussain Shakiri, Maulana Mufti Fazlullah Jan, Maulana Abdul Baseer Rustami and Maulana Ateequllah Qadri. Besides, representatives from the ministry for religious affairs, metrological department, Suparco and ministry of science and technology were also present on the occasion, he said. He congratulated the people on the arrival of the holy month.

Earlier, Maulana Azad had emphasised that similar meetings of zonal committees 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.

He had appealed to the people to be vigilant in the moon sighting, expressing the 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 began in the kingdom on Monday, March 11.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia had called on Muslims to sight the moon of Ramazan.

The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia called on whoever sights the crescent — either by the naked eye or through binoculars — to report to the nearest court and register their observation, the local media said.

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 of Ramazan was sighted on Sunday evening.

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