Peshawar, February 28, 2025: The Ramadan moon for the Islamic year 1446 Hijri was not sighted anywhere in Pakistan on Friday. As a result, the first fast (roza) will be observed on Sunday, March 2.
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, led by Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, convened in Peshawar to assess moon sighting reports from across the country. Following the meeting, the committee announced in a press conference that no credible sightings had been reported.
Meetings of zonal moon sighting committees were held in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Quetta, with representatives from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and SUPARCO in attendance. However, no evidence of the crescent moon was received from any region.
A day earlier, the Met Office had forecast partly cloudy conditions across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, predicting low chances of moon sighting due to weather conditions. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), at sunset, the moon’s age was approximately 12 hours, with an angular separation from the sun of about five degrees—factors that further reduced visibility.
Prior to the meeting, SUPARCO had predicted that Ramadan was likely to begin after Saturday evening, based on astronomical calculations. Their assessment aligned with the committee’s final decision.
With the official announcement, Pakistanis will begin Ramadan preparations, observing the first fast on March 2 in alignment with the lunar calendar.
