PESHAWAR: The crescent moon for the holy month of Ramadan was sighted in Pakistan and the holy month will commence in the country from Tuesday, March 12, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced on Monday. Meanwhile, the Ramadan moon was also sighted in India, and other south Asian countries to mark the beginning of the holy month.
The announcement was made following a meeting of the central and zonal Ruet-e-Hilal committees for sighting the crescent of the Islamic month. The meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal committee was chaired by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad at the Auqaf Hall, Peshawar, while the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa zonal moon-sighting committee also met at the same venue. Representatives of the Department of Astronomy and, the Department of Meteorology, Science and Technology also attended the meeting in Peshawar.
Meanwhile, meetings of other zonal committees were also held in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Quetta simultaneously.
Announcing the decision, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad said the committee received multiple testimonies of moon-sighting from various areas across the country including Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore and Swabi districts.
The first Taraweeh in Pakistan will be offered tonight to mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.
Office Timings During Ramadan
Meanwhile, the federal and all provincial governments issued timings for government offices during Ramadan. According to a notification by the Establishment Division, the working hours for the federal offices working five days a week will be 9 am to 3 pm while for those that work six days a week, the working hours will be 9 am to 2 pm.
On Fridays, the working hours for all offices will be 9 am to 12:30 pm.
Similarly, in Punjab, the timings for offices working five days will be 10 am to 4 pm and for offices working six days 10 am to 3.30 pm. On Fridays, the time will be 9 am to 1 pm.
The Sindh and Balochistan governments also notified the working hours for government offices during Ramadan.
According to reports, the office hours will be 9 am to 3 pm, except Friday when the timings will be 9 am to 1 pm.
