Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have announced that the holy of Ramazan will begin on Monday, March 11, after the sighting of the crescent by the moon-sighting committee on Sunday, Khaleej Times reported.

The sighting of crescent marks the beginning of the month in the Islamic Hijri calendar.

According to the Saudi Supreme Court, the crescent was spotted on Sunday evening, marking the last day of Sha’ban month.

“The Islamic months typically span either 29 or 30 days, depending upon the sighting of the Moon. With the Moon sighted this evening, the preceding month in the Hijri calendar, Sha’ban, concluded at 29 days. Consequently, Ramadan 1 falls on March 11,” it wrote.

Heavy rains over the weekend have brought temperatures down in the UAE. It is expected that it will be a pleasant fasting experience this year, with the weather in the UAE during March-April being warm to hot.

The call for the Fajr prayer will be given out at 5:15am, signalling the start of the fast in the UAE. It will end when the call for Maghrib prayer is given out at 6:29pm.

Several other countries including Oman, Australia, Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei have already announced March 12 as the beginning of the holy month as there was no sighting of the crescent moon on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will meet in Peshawar on Monday (tomorrow) for the Ramazan crescent sighting. The meetings of other zonal and district committees would be held simultaneously at their respective places.

Committee Chairman Maulana Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad expressed hope that the holy month begins on the same day throughout the country. He also called on Pakistanis to look for the Ramadan moon tomorrow evening.

Moreover, natural gas in Pakistan would be available from 3am to 9am and 3pm to 10pm during Ramazan, the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited said earlier this week.

The SSGC reminded the people of declining gas reserves, citing that around 10% depletion in the country’s gas reserves has led to the widening gas demand-supply gap.