25 Hours and 48 Minutes: Inside Peshawar’s Closed-Door Decision That Will Shape Ramadan for 240 Million Pakistanis In kirks from Karachi to Khyber, families gathered around radios and TV sets.
Mobile phones buzzed with enterprise. The stock request had formerly acclimated. Banks had prepared for Zakat deductions. And across the country, millions wondered Would they begin dieting on Thursday or Friday?
The answer would come not from instinct or tradition alone, but from a precise astronomical computation the moon’s age at evening would be exactly 25 hours and 48 twinkles — a figure that, according to SUPARCO’s scientists, made visibility nearly certain.
The Science Behind the Sighting What 25 Hours and 48 twinkles Really Means
To understand why this particular moon sighting carried similar certainty, one must look to the skies and to the precise computations of Pakistan’s space agency.
The Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission( SUPARCO) had been tracking the lunar cycle for weeks. Their data was unambiguous the new moon was born on February 17, 2026, at exactly 501 PM Pakistan Standard Time. By evening on February 18, the moon would be roughly 25 hours and 48 twinkles old.
In lunar visibility terms, this is significant.
A moon youngish than 20 hours is infrequently visible to the naked eye. At 25 hours and 48 twinkles, with the moon deposited positively above the horizon after evening, visibility transitions from possible to probable.
SUPARCO’s assessment was clear” Grounded on crucial astronomical parameters, the chances of observing the new moon with the naked eye on the evening of February 18 are veritably bright”.
The agency added another pivotal detail littoral
Areas of Pakistan would witness a gap of roughly 59 twinkles between evening and moonset. This extended window handed ample occasion for moon sighting panels across the country to admit and corroborate testaments.
But SUPARCO was careful to emphasize its part.” The sanctioned launch of the holy month will be determined by the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee,” their statement read,” after entering and vindicating testaments from across Pakistan”. Science could prognosticate; only mortal evidence could confirm.
The Meeting Procedure, Actors, and Protocol
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee’s meeting in Peshawar followed a precisely structured protocol designed to balance religious tradition with empirical observation.
Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, the commission’s president, presided over the session. Members of the central commission were in attendance, joined by representatives from multiple government bodies the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Meteorological Department, SUPARCO, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Thisinter-agency presence reflected the ultramodern
Reality that moon sighting is no longer solely a matter of naked- eye observation; it’s a conflation of evidence, astronomy, and meteorology.
Contemporaneously, zonal Ruet-e-Hilal panels convened in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta, following a announcement issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs to insure coordinated proceedings civil. These indigenous bodies collected sightings from their separate areas and bear them to the central commission in Peshawar.
The process was regular.
substantiations who claimed to have observed the crescent were examined, their evidencecross-referenced with astronomical data. Only when multiple believable sightings aligned with scientific prognostications would the commission issue its final verdict.
The advertisement A Nation Holds Its Breath
As the evening progressed, word began to trickle out. Reports from across the country verified what SUPARCO had prognosticated the crescent had been observed. In Karachi, in Lahore, in Quetta, and in the pastoral fields between them, substantiations came forward with testaments.
Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad entered these reports,
Counted them against the astronomical data, and consulted with his associates. also, in a brief but nationally televised address, he made the advertisement that 240 million Pakistanis had been awaiting Ramadan would begin on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
The 25 hours and 48 twinkles had done their work. Science and tradition had gathered.
Beyond Peshawar The Regional Context
Pakistan’s decision placed it in distinguished Peshawar company but also stressed the essential variations in global moon sighting practices.
Saudi Arabia and several Gulf nations had formerly begun dieting on Wednesday, February 18, following their own moon sighting on Tuesday evening. Thousands gathered at Masjid al- Haram in Makkah and Al- Masjid an- Nabawi in Madinah for the first Taraweeh prayers, marking the launch of the sacred month with deification and reflection.
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Other nations fell into line with Pakistan.
Iraq, Oman, Turkiye, Indonesia, and Malaysia were set to begin dieting on Thursday. In Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan Peshawar would also mark the first day of Ramadan on Thursday, alongside Bangladesh, India, and Australia.
For Muslims in the United Kingdom and Europe,
The situation was more complex. Some communities follow astronomical timetables; others stay for physical moon sighting documentations, Peshawar frequently from Saudi Arabia or original Islamic authorities. The result is occasional variation, with different kirks beginning Ramadan on different days — a memorial that concinnity of purpose does n’t always bear concinnity of timing.
The Practical Counteraccusations What the Decision Means for Pakistanis
With the date verified, Pakistan Peshawar rotated to perpetration mode. The advertisement touched off a waterfall of executive and Peshawar practical consequences that would shape diurnal life for the coming 29 or 30 days.
Banking and Zakat The State Bank of Pakistan had formerly
Blazoned that banks would remain unrestricted on the first day of Ramadan for public deals. This periodic check facilitates the deduction of Zakat from Peshawar eligible savings accounts, a process managed centrally to insure compliance with Islamic scores.
While banks are closed to guests, workers report to work, and digital banking services remain completely functional. Account holders were advised to check their balances and complete critical deals beforehand.
