What happened
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced on Monday, 19 January 2026, that the crescent for Shaban 1447 AH had not been sighted, so the new month will begin on Wednesday, 21 January. Committee chairman Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabeer Azad made the announcement after the body met in Islamabad that evening to consider sighting evidence, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony later issued a notification confirming that the moon was not seen anywhere in Pakistan, Daily Times reported the next morning. Because the evening of 19 January was 29 Rajab, the current month completes 30 days and Shaban starts a day later than it would have had the crescent been seen.
Neither report described any individual claim of a sighting being rejected; both said simply that the crescent was not seen and that the month would begin on 21 January.
What the forecasters expected
The result matched the forecast. In a letter dated 2 January, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said the new moon would be born at 00:52 Pakistan time on 19 January and that astronomical parameters showed “no chance of sighting” it that evening. The department listed the last possible moonset times for different regions, from 17:52 in Gilgit-Baltistan to 19:02 in Balochistan, and expected partly cloudy or fair skies across most of the country.
Why it matters
Shaban is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar and immediately precedes Ramadan, so the committee’s finding sets the countdown to the fasting month for the rest of the country. It also fixes Shab-e-Barat, observed on the 15th of Shaban. Later reports put the night of prayer on 3 February, with a school holiday on Wednesday, 4 February, Daily Pakistan reported; the Sindh and Punjab governments declared the day off for educational institutions.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, which issued the notification, is also the department handling pilgrimage arrangements; KhabarWire has reported on Pakistan’s request to Saudi Arabia to raise its Hajj quota days earlier.
What happens next
The same committee will meet again to look for the Ramadan crescent at the end of Shaban, and that announcement will determine the date of the first fast.
