Eid in K-P today as rest of Pakistan fasts

Even in the absence Popalzai, Masjid Qasim Khan okays testimonies of moon-sighting

PESHAWAR: With Peshawar defying yet again, all efforts for one Eid across the country have fallen flat – this year too.

Even with its lead cleric, Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, missing from the country, Peshawar’s Masjid Qasim Khan took lead from the rest of the country in announcing the end of Ramazan on Saturday, and declaring Eid on Sunday (today).

And by the time the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will start looking for the Eid moon in the dusky skies of Islamabad on Sunday (today), the Masjid Qasim Khan’s followers – wherever they are in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – would have performed Eid prayers a good 12 hours earlier.

The informal moon-sighting committee – chaired by Maulana Abdul Latif Shakir in the absence of Mufti Popalzai – went ahead with their very own lunar cycle by giving nod to the testimonies received from various parts of K-P.



"The committee checked, verified and found 46 out of 50 testimonies of moon-sighting as valid under Islamic Shariah… and so the first of Shawwal will fall on Sunday [today] in the country," committee member Qari Samiullah Jan announced.

He added that 99 per cent of the testimonies were received from Peshawar and its suburbs. He alleged that the government was pressuring the local committee not to gather for moon sighting which “is not a mature approach”.

"The testimonies in other districts of K-P were verified by well-reputed Ulema then, who then announced Eid to be celebrated on Sunday [today],“ he said.



District Nazim Mardan Himayatullah Mayar also told a private news channel that Ulema in Mardan received 17 testimonies. “Eid will, therefore, be celebrated in Mardan on Sunday and the rest of the country can celebrate it with us.”

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee did it best for the whole nation to celebrate the biggest Islamic festival on the same day. Just to avert the controversy this time around, the central committee had announced to sit in Peshawar to sight the new moon.

However, with Masjid Qasim Khan already heralding the start of the month of Shawwal, the central committee opted to stay back in the capital city for searching the Eid moon.

‘Missing Mufti’


The sudden disappearance of Mufti Popalzai a few days before Eidul Fitr surprised many, with some even thinking that he had been abducted. But it now appears that he is safe and sound in Dubai. The disappearance had created curiosity among many, and certain religious parties were even worried about his safety.

Given the crescent controversy that rears its ugly head almost always on the occasions of Ramazan and Eid, some even thought that the Peshawar cleric had been abducted while others believed that he had been placed under house arrest by the government or arrested by the police. There was even stories that he had been sent on a trip abroad by the government to allow the whole nation to celebrate Eid on the same day.

However, images of the cleric on board an airplane as well as his ticket showing that he left for Dubai on June 22 and will return on August 2 were soon shared on social media, putting an end to the mystery of Popalzai’s sudden disappearance.

But questions still remain. Did someone send Popalzai to Dubai or he himself opted to leave for the emirate?

“We don’t know where he is ... or who has sent him to Dubai [as you said],” an official of the Ministry of Religious Affairs told this correspondent, requesting not to be named. “Maybe he has gone to Saudi Arabia to perform umrah. But we were looking forward to meeting him in Peshawar on Sunday.”

Gulf countries

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are celebrating Eidul Fitr today (Sunday).

The Saudi authorities announced the sighting of Shawwal crescent in the kingdom on Saturday, June 24, declaring that Eid will be celebrated on Sunday, June 25.

Other countries in the Gulf, including the UAE, celebrate Eid in line with the Saudi decision.