Islamabad [Pakistan]: As multiple countries across the world decided to celebrate Eidul Fitr on Wednesday (tomorrow) after the crescent was not sighted on Monday, the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Pakistan will meet today to spot the Shawwal crescent, giving rise to the possibility of a same-day Eid across the Muslim world.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait will celebrate Eid tomorrow, according to media reports in the Gulf-based newspapers. Similarly, Australia has also announced that Eid will be observed on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the central moon-sighting body will meet at the roof of the Federal Secretariat’s Kohsar Block in Islamabad Pakistan, while meetings of zonal and district Ruet-i-Hilal committees will be held at their respective headquarters concurrently. If the committee manages to spot the new moon today, then Pakistan will also celebrate Eid with the rest of the world.
In a statement on Monday, the committee requested citizens to share any information regarding sightings of the moon with the committees in their respective areas.
The meeting will be chaired by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, and attended by the members of the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, as well as officials from the Meteorological Department, Suparco, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
“All groups who had apprehensions with the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee in the past have been taken on board and it is unlikely that any cleric would form their private moon sighting committee”, quoted The Dawn newspaper Maulana Azad as saying.
In the past, different parts of the country have observed Eid on different dates owing to differences in moon-sighting evidence and non-adherence to the Central Ruet-i-Hilal committee’s diktat.
Most notably, Peshawar’s Mufti Shahabudin Popalzai would often announce Eid in KP a day ahead of the rest of the country. In 2022, the country saw Eid being celebrated on three different dates in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the rest of the country.
A similar situation occurred in 2012, when the residents of the then-tribal areas celebrated Eid on Aug 18, KP announced Eid on Aug 19 and the rest of the country celebrated on Aug 20.
Experts have forecasted over ninty percent chances of the Crescent sighting on April 09 evening and if at all the situation arises, Gulf region besides countries in sub-continent including India, Bangladesh and Pakistan would be celebrating the auspicious eve simultaneously.
Back home, the sky is largely to remain clear, facilitating the early conclusion regarding the possibility of moon sighting.
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