Summary:
The members assembled on Wednesday evening to view the crescent moon; a marker of the commencement of Ramzan. Panaji: The holy month of Ramzan is expected to kick-start this weekend with the first roza (fast) being on Friday, said members of the All Goa Muslim Jamaat Association.The association forms the hilal committee in Goa, a moon-sighting (hilal) methodology to determine the Ramzan dates. Since the moon was not sighted that evening, by default, the following day serves as the beginning of Ramzan,” said member of the association, Abdul Matin Carol.Besides fasting, Muslims spend the month offering an increased amount of prayers, Quran recital, and engage in acts of charity through the month.The month-long fast and prayer will conclude with Eid-ul-Fitr, which will be celebrated in June. They informed that the moon was not sighted that evening, leading them to declare the evening of May 17 as the official start of Ramzan.The first installment of the sacred namaz, Taraveeh in mosques across the state, is thus expected to be on Thursday night, following which, Muslims in Goa will be observing the first roza (fast) on the pre-dawn of Friday.“The Lunar calendar that Muslims follow indicated May 16 as the 29th day of the holy month of Sha’ban..