Zilhaj moon not sighted in Pakistan; Eid-ul-Azha to fall on August 1st, 2020
KARACHI: The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee has made a formal announcement that the crescent of Zilhaj month was not sighted across the country.
Chairman Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman announced that the body has not sighted moon and the month of Zilhaj will begin from Thursday (July 23) while Eidul Azha will be celebrated on August 1.
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee met at Met Complex in Karachi after Asar prayers today to witness the crescent of Zil-haj month. During the meeting, the central committee has also collected evidence of crescent from the zonal committees sat in Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar.
Earlier, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had predicted on July 4 that there is a fair chance of sighting the moon of Zilhaj, 1441 AH on the evening of July 21 i.e. on 29th of Zilqad.
ذُوالحجہ1441 ہجری کے چاند کی پیدائش (Birth of New Moon) پاکستان کے معیاری وقت کے مطابق رات 10:33 پر ہو چکی ہے. آج 21 جولائی کو پاکستان میں کراچی اور گرد و نواح کے مطلع میں چاند نظر آجائیگا، ہاں اگر بادل ہیں Ruet App ڈاؤن لوڈ کریں بالکل صحیح مقام دیکھیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 21, 2020
In a statement the met office had said that the new moon of Zilhaj, 1441 AH will be born on crossing conjunction point at 22:33 Pakistan Standard Time (PST) on 20 July (Monday).
According to astronomical parameters, there is ‘fair chance’ of sighting the new moon of Zilhaj, 1441 AH on the evening of Tuesday, July 21st i.e. on 29th of Zilqad, 1441 AH, the met office predicted.
Yesterday, the Saudi Arabian Supreme Court had also announced that the Eid-ul-Azha will fall on July 31st as Zilhaj crescent was not sighted on Monday.
“This means that Wednesday, July 22nd, will be the first of Zilhaj that marks the start of this year’s Hajj season, which will be limited to only 10,000 pilgrims from within the Kingdom due to the coronavirus pandemic,” the publication reported.
