Oman, India and Pakistan among countries to start Ramadan on Sunday

Moon sighted on Indian subcontinent to herald start of holy month

The chairman of a moon-sighting committee points a telescope at the skies in Peshawar, Pakistan. EPA

Muslims in Oman, India and Pakistan will be among those marking the start of Ramadan on Sunday, a day after the holy month began in other countries including the UAE.

The beginning of Ramadan depends on when the crescent moon is sighted by religious officials, meaning there is more than one possible start date.

The crescent was spotted on Saturday in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, media in those countries said, heralding the start of Ramadan on Sunday.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Egypt and Yemen had sighted the Moon on Friday, meaning Ramadan started on Saturday.

But a Moon-sighting committee in Oman did not spot the crescent in time for a Saturday start, meaning Ramadan will start on Sunday, said the country’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.

Jordan likewise announced that Saturday would be the last day of the preceding month of Shaban, and that Ramadan would start on Sunday.

Indonesia’s religious affairs minister made the same ruling, despite one of the country’s largest Islamic groups, Muhammadiyah, saying its calculations suggested a Saturday start.

The first day of Ramadan in Yemen coincides with the start of a planned two-month ceasefire that was welcomed with cautious optimism.

There are hopes for a return to normality after two successive years in which Ramadan was marked under the cloud of coronavirus restrictions in many countries.