Ramzan to begin from Sunday in India as crescent moon not sighted

Usually the moon is seen in the Kutch area of Gujarat, but there was no news of sighting from there

New Delhi: Ramzan will begin on Sunday in India as the crescent moon marking the start of the fasting month was not sighted anywhere in the country on Friday.

Shahi Imam of Chandni Chowk’s Fatehpuri Mosque Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmed said Delhi-NCR was cloudy since morning, due to which the moon was not visible here.

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He said that many places, including Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were contacted, but sighting of the moon was not confirmed from anywhere.

Ahmed said usually the moon is seen in the Kutch area of Gujarat, but there was no news of sighting from there also.

He said therefore it was decided that the first fast will be on March 2, i.e. Sunday.

According to the Islamic calendar, a month is of 29 or 30 days. The number of days in the month depends on the sighting of the moon.

He said Saturday is the 30th day of Shaban, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar.

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Shaban Bukhari said, “Today (Friday), the moon of Ramzan-ul-Mubarak has not been sighted. Therefore, it is announced that the first fast will be on March 2, 2025.”

Muslim organisation Imarat-e-Shariah Hind said due to cloudy skies in Delhi, the moon was not sighted in the national capital, after which various places in the country were also contacted, but no information of moon sighting was received from anywhere.

In view of this situation, it is announced that the month of Ramzan will start from March 2, it said.

After the sighting of the moon of Ramzan, the holy month begins from the next day and for the next 30 days, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

Along with this, special prayers are offered in mosques in the evening which is called Tarahavi. In this prayer, the entire Quran is recited. This prayer continues till the sighting of the Eid moon.

Mufti Mukarram has appealed to the Muslim community to pray in the month of Ramzan and “pray as much as possible for the well-being of the 140 crore people of the country”.