The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee could not sight the moon of Muharram on Tuesday, which would mark the beginning of the new Islamic year, 1445 Hijri.
This means that the first date of Muharram will be on Thursday (July 20) and Youm-e-Ashura will be celebrated on July 29 (Saturday).
Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, presided over the meeting, which took place at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Quetta.
Chief Meteorological Scientist Sardar Sarfaraz and other officials also attended the meeting.
Earlier, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had predicted that the moon would rise at the crossing conjunction point on July 17 (Monday) at 11:32 pm.
“As per the astronomical parameters, there is a slight chance of sighting the new moon of Muharram, 1445 AH on the evening of 18-07-2023 i.e. 29 Zilhaj, 1444 AH,” the PMD said in a notification a day earlier.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia announced that the Islamic year in the kingdom will begin tomorrow (July 19).
“According to the Umm al-Qura calendar, Tuesday July 18, 2023 will be the last day of the month of Zilhajj, 1444 Hijri. Wednesday will be the first day of the month of Muharram, 1445 Hijri, corresponding to July 19, 2023,” the court declared.
