Staff Reporter :
The crescent moon of the Ramzan was sighted in Bangladesh on Saturday evening, says the national moon sighting committee.
The national moon sighting committee announced that the crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramzan was sighted in the sky of Bangladesh on Saturday evening.
As per the announcement, Saturday was the last day of the month of Shaaban in the country.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan, chaired the meeting of the national moon sighting committee in the conference room of the Islamic Foundation at Baitul Mukarram in the capital, made the announcement. Officials present in the meeting said that the news of sighting moon came from different places of the country.
Muslims follow a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. Sighting a crescent moon heralds the start of Ramzan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
Meanwhile, the Ramzan crescent moon was sighted in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening, meaning the holy month officially began in the country on Saturday.
Four other Gulf Arab countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirate, have also announced the sighting of the Ramzan moon.
Ramzan is one of four holy months to the 1.5 billion Muslims.
The starting date of the dawn-dusk fasting month of Ramzan is determined by both lunar calculations and physical sightings of a new moon.
Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, and traditionally gather with family and friends to break their fast in the evening.
The Muslims converge in a large number in the mosques during the month.
