Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad announced on Saturday that the Zil-Hajj moon was not sighted and Eidul Azha will fall on July 21 (Wednesday).
The first of Zil-Hajj will fall on Monday (July 12).
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee met on Saturday for the sighting at the Pakistan Meteorological Department in Karachi.
The committee’s chairman had arrived in Karachi from Islamabad to preside over the meeting.
Meanwhile, the provincial and district Ruet-e-Hilal Committees met simultaneously at their respective headquarters. The meetings that convened in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar all reported that no testimonies of the moon having been sighted were received.
Maulana Azad said that while the sky in most areas of the country was clear, it was clouded in a few.
He said that no testimonies of the moon having been sighted were received and so it was decided with consensus that the first of Zil-Hajj will be observed on Monday and Eidul Azha will be observed on July 21.
According to astronomical parameters, there was already next to no chance of sighting the new moon of Zil-Hajj on the evening of Saturday.
Earlier in May, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee had announced the sighting of moon for the month of Shawwal after 11:30pm. The meeting in Islamabad had lasted more than four hours.
