Ramadan moon not sighted in Saudi Arabia, UAE

Saudi Arabia will start the fasting month of Ramadan on Thursday (March 23) along with most other Gulf states, the local media said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court called on all Muslims in the Kingdom to look for the Ramadan crescent on Tuesday evening which corresponds to Shaban 29, 1444.

The UAE's moon-sighting committee, meeting in Abu Dhabi after the maghrib prayer, also searched the skies for signs of the moon.

It should be noted that this is the first Ramadan in three years without any COVID-19 restrictions across UAE after an indoor mask mandate was dropped in September.

The National News mentioned that this year, most middle-eastern countries will be fasting for almost 14 hours a day.

The publication, citing Saudi officials, mentioned that it is expected that as many as three million pilgrims will visit the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah during Ramadan.

In Pakistan, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will meet tomorrow (Wednesday) in Peshawar for the Ramadan moon-sighting under committee chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir.

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for the sighting of the crescent of Ramadan ul Mubarak 1444 AH with its chairman will meet in the building of Auqaf Department, Peshawar on March 22 corresponding to Shaban 29 (Wednesday evening).