K-P celebrates Eid today, rest of country tomorrow

Tradition of two Eids returns

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD:

The country will be celebrating two Eidul Fitrs this time around as the first one will be in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Monday (today) whereas the second in other parts of the country on May 3 (Tuesday).

Officially, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is responsible for announcing Eid but the tradition of independent moon sightings by a local committee of K-P headed by Mufti Popalzai at the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque has been kept alive this year.

Mufti Popalzai on Sunday said 17 testimonies pertaining to the sighting of the Shawwal moon were received initially. Later, the K-P government officially announced Eidul Fitr on May 2 (today) after receiving 130 testimonies of the sighting of Shawwal moon from across the province.

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K-P Special Assistant for Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif confirmed the development. Sources said K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan will offer Eidul Fitr prayers at the Governor House in Peshawar. Cabinet members and government officials will also accompany him.

On the other hand, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced that the Shawwal moon was not sighted at any place in Pakistan and therefore Eidul Fitr would be celebrated across the country on Tuesday, May 3.

The announcement was made after the moon sighting committee met in Islamabad with its Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad in the chair.

Addressing a news conference following the meeting, Maulana Azad said that the zonal committees did not receive any testimony from anywhere in the country and the decision was made unanimously.

“No credible testimonies of moon sighting were received from any part of the county,” he said, adding that the committee reached the decision after consulting with all zonal moon sighting committees.

Also read: Eidul Fitr likely to be celebrated in Pakistan on May 3

“The first day of Eid will fall on May 3 (Tuesday).”

The meeting was also attended by members of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and representatives of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Sparco, meteorological department and Ministry of Science and Technology.

Last week, astronomers had predicted that Eidul Fitr was likely to be celebrated on Tuesday, May 3 this year, saying the Shawwal moon may not be sighted anywhere in the country on the evening of Ramazan 29 (May 1).

They added that the new moon will be born at 1:28am between the night of April 30 and May 1.

Experts said the dimensional difference between the moon from the sun needs to be at 10 degrees but it will be at eight degrees in Pakistan, which will make it near impossible to be seen even with a telescope.

On the other hand, the time difference between the sunset and moonset, which should be at 40 minutes, will be more than 89 minutes in all areas of the country.

Therefore, if there are clear skies on Monday evening, the moon will be sighted clearly and for long in all areas of the country.