ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will observe Eid Milad un Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) on September 6, as the Rabi ul Awal moon was not sighted anywhere in the country, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced on Sunday.
After the committee meeting, Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad said that no credible testimonies of crescent sighting were received from any part of the country.
“The moon of Rabi ul Awal has not been sighted. Therefore, the first of Rabi ul Awal will fall on Tuesday, August 26, and Eid Milad un Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) will be observed on Saturday, September 6,” Maulana Azad told reporters.
The meeting of the central moon sighting committee was held in Karachi with Maulana Azad in the chair, while parallel meetings of zonal committees took place in Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar.
Representatives of the Pakistan Meteorological Department and the Ministry of Religious Affairs also attended the meeting.
Earlier, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) had forecast that the new moon for Rabi ul Awal 1447 AH would be born at 11:06 a.m. on August 23 and would be about 32 hours old by sunset the following day.
The agency noted that the crescent would likely be visible along Pakistan’s coastal regions if skies remained clear.
Eid Milad un Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) is marked each year on the 12th of Rabi ul Awal, the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar, to commemorate the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
The occasion is observed across Pakistan with religious fervour, and the government declares it a public holiday.
