Ramazan moon likely to be sighted on March 11: Met Office

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department has predicted that the Ramazan moon is likely to be sighted on March 11.

According to the Met Office, the Ramazan crescent will be born on March 10 at 2pm and will be over 28 hours old by March 11, making its sighting highly likely.

The Met Office further mentioned that on March 11, clear skies were expected in central and lower Sindh and Balochistan, while the upper regions of the country may not have favourable weather for sighting the crescent due to a western system and cloudy skies.

On the other hand, Ruet-e-Hilal Committee’s Research Council General Secretary Khalid Ejaz Mufti also stated that the first fast was likely to be observed on Tuesday, March 12.

He mentioned that if the skies were clear on the evening of March 11, the crescent could easily be sighted, hence the first fast was expected to be March 12, 2024.

He said that it was not possible to sight the crescent on the evening of March 10 in any Islamic country in the world.

The new moon will be born at 2 PM Pakistani time on March 10. On the evening of March 11, which is 29 Sha’ban, the age of the moon at sunset, which should be over 19 hours for the sighting of the crescent, will be over 28 hours in all regions of Pakistan.

The difference between sunset and moonset, which should be at least 40 minutes, will be 73 minutes in Karachi, 74 minutes in Gwadar, 76 minutes in Lahore and Quetta, 77 minutes in Islamabad, 78 minutes in Peshawar, Charsadda, and Muzaffarabad and 79 minutes in Gilgit.

Therefore, in all areas of Pakistan where the skies were clear, the sighting of the crescent will be easily possible, and it is hoped that Ramazan will commence from March 12.