K-P govt announces celebrating Eidul Fitr tomorrow

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan will offer Eid prayer at Governor House Peshawar

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has announced officially celebrating Eidul Fitr tomorrow (Monday) across the province after the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced that the Shawwal moon was not sighted in Pakistan.

“No credible testimonies of moon sighting were received from any part of the county. The first day of Eid will fall on May 3 (Tuesday),” announced top moon-sighting body chief Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad following the meeting.

K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan will offer Eid prayer at the Governor House Peshawar along with cabinet members and senior government officials, according to an official announcement.

However, Qari Abdul Rauf Madani of the Peshawar moon-sighting body said they did not receive any moon-sighting testimonies and the first day of Eidul Fitr will be celebrated on Tuesday.

Also read: Shawwal moon not sighted, Eidul Fitr on Tuesday

K-P government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali said as many as 130 moon testimonies were received from different parts of the province.

“The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to officially celebrate Eidul Fitr on Monday, May 2,” he said in a statement.

The announcement comes minutes after a local Ruet-e-Hilal Committee led by Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai in Peshawar has also announced that the Shawwal moon was sighted and Eidul Fitr will be celebrated on Monday in the light of “more than 17 testimonies”.

Mufti Popalzai is the Khateeb of the historic Qasim Khan Mosque in Peshawar and the head of his own Ruet-e-Hilal committee.

However, he has become controversial after his committee sighted the moon — which marks the beginning of the Islamic months — at different dates than the central moon-sighting body. As a result, Ramazan and Eid in parts of K-P were observed at different times to the rest of the country.