Zul Hijjah moon not sighted, Eid Al Adha on July 20
KARACHI: The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Pakistan announced on Saturday that the Zil Hajj moon was not sighted and thus Eid ul Adha will fall on July 21.
The first of Zil Hajj will fall on Monday, July 12, 2021, while Eid ul Adha will be observed on Wednesday, July 21.
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee met Saturday for the sighting of the crescent of Zil Hajj 1442 AH at the Met complex of the Pakistan Meteorological Department in Karachi.
Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairperson Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad arrived in Karachi from Islamabad to preside over the meeting.
Meanwhile, he 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, July 12 and Eid ul Adha will be observed on Wednesday, July 21.
According to astronomical parameters, there was already next to no chance of sighting the new moon of Zil Hajj, 1442 AH on the evening of July 10, i.e. on the 29th of Ziquad, 1442 AH.
According to climate data issued earlier by the Met office, the new moon of Zilhaj was to be born on the crossing conjunction point at 06:18 PST on July 10 and its age at the time of moon sighting was expected to be less than 14 hours across the country, making it almost impossible to be sighted.
Meanwhile, crescent moon of the month of Zul Hijjah was not spotted in Saudi Arabia on Friday, according to an official Saudi government account on Twitter.
The first day of Zul Hijjah will be on July 11, while July 10 will be the last day of Zul Qaadah, SPAregions tweeted.
Spotting the crescent moon determines the days of Haj and Eid Al Adha, which is celebrated on the 10th of Zul Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.
The Day of Arafat will fall on July 19 this year.
UAE residents will also have a six-day long break on the occasion of Eid Al Adha.
Earlier, the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Departments of Government of Dubai had said that Arafat Day is to be marked on Monday, July 19, 2021. Therefore, Tuesday, July 20, will be the first day of Eid Al Adha in the UAE.
Based on these forecasts, UAE residents are likely to have a six-day break this month with four-day Eid holidays from Monday, July 19 to Thursday, July 22, followed by two-day weekend on July 23 and 24.
Earlier on Thursday, the Saudi Arabia supreme court had urged Muslims in the Kingdom to try to sight the Zul Hijjah crescent on Friday.