Moon sighted, Ramadan begins Sunday

Muslims in Bangladeshis will start observing the holy month of Ramadan, the lunar month of self-purification through fasting and abstinence, from Sunday as the new crescent moon was sighted on Saturday.

Lailatul Qadr, the night of divine blessings and benediction, will be observed on the night of 28 April.

The National Moon Sighting Committee took the decision at a meeting held at Islamic Foundation's Baitul Mukarram office. State minister for religious affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan chaired the meeting.

Muslims are meant to fast from dawn to dusk during the lunar month, a time of restraint and austerity.

The government has rearranged the office timing for the holy month of Ramadan from 9:00am to 3:30pm for all government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions.

Besides, as classes were hampered for the Covid-19 pandemic, secondary and higher secondary institutions have been requested to continue in-person classes till 26 April to make up the academic losses.

Meanwhile, residents of as many as 40 villages in Chandpur district began the holy fasting month of Ramadan Saturday, in accordance with Saudi Arabia.

The villagers across the upazilas of Faridganj, Matlab North, Kachua and Shahrasti offered their Tarabi prayers last night and began their dawn-to-sunset fast after having ‘Sehri’ before sunrise.

They have been celebrating all religious festivals like Eid and Ramadan on the lines of Saudi Arabia, home to the world's most holy Muslim sites, since 1928 Maulana Zakaria Chowdhury, in charge of Hajiganj Sadar Darbar Sharif in Chandpur.