UAE Ramadan moon-sighting committee to convene on Thursday

The United Arab Emirates's moon sighting committee will convene on Thursday [April 23] and it is expected that the month of Ramadan will kick off on April 24, Khaleej Times reported.

According to the publication: "The Ramadan moon-sighting committee will meet virtually on Thursday after the Maghreb prayer under the chairmanship of Sultan bin Saeed Al Badi Al Dhaheri, the Minister of Justice."

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will also meet on Thursday to sight the Ramadan moon, said a spokesperson of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The spokesperson stated that the meeting will be held at the Met Office in Karachi with Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman in the chair. He added that the meetings of the zonal committees will take place at the provincial headquarters.

According to the spokesperson, Islamabad’s zonal committee will hold a meeting at the Kohsar complex.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court had also ordered all Muslims across the country to sight the moon of Ramadan on Thursday evening.

The court said that people who sight the moon either through a telescope or naked should inform the nearest court.

If the moon is sighted on Thursday night, then Friday will be the first day of Ramadan. 

This year’s Ramadan will be celebrated in a different manner as the world tries to battle the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 181,000 people across the globe.

Days before the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the Islamic world is grappling with an untimely paradox of the new coronavirus pandemic: enforced separation at a time when socialising is almost sacred.

The holiest month in the Islamic calendar is one of family and togetherness – community, reflection, charity and prayer.

But with shuttered mosques, coronavirus curfews and bans on mass prayers from Senegal to Southeast Asia, some 1.8 billion Muslims are facing a Ramadan like never before.

Across the Muslim world the pandemic has generated new levels of anxiety before Ramadan begins on or around Thursday.

— Additional reporting from Reuters.