Asking for the moon

Moon-sighting has become a complicated affair and it should be handed over to the army.

This moon-sighting business is a pretty complex affair. Already weighted down with astronomical dimensions, it has further been confounded by worldly obsessions. The new moon must be sighted on its very first appearance, wherever in the country. Optical aids were permitted, but no electronics. And all that by those not necessarily blessed with distant visions. I suggest this exercise is handed over to the army, because it is in sync with the state policy to outsource all intractable problems.

It will pitch the military against the mullah; a political dividend for the government. The army claims it has procedures for all contingencies. Supposing it is, the military methodology might proceed as follows.

Since the earliest sightings were more likely in the southwest, the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (RHC) should be assembled at a suitable site near the Iranian borders. The Chagai Hills in Balochistan provide the necessary infrastructure and an adequately elevated platform. The residual radioactivity in the area will be added inducement for an expeditious execution of the mission. Providing Balochistan the lead role will help alleviate its sense of deprivation and promote national integration. Since the use of an electronic telescope requires a fatwa, the ISI should be tasked to work on it. In case of bad weather, it should ask Suparco to create an optical illusion or the FC to arrange local witnesses.

That should take care of this issue, except for a caveat. Some of our people believe that to promote the unity of the Ummah, we should synchronise our religious celebrations with the Saudis. Since Islam transcends national borders, they may have a point. Now before we sent our esteemed committees packing, not a bad idea in itself, there was no harm looking a little deeper, at how a centralised system was likely to work.

Firstly, the Saudi practice in such matters, though pragmatic, was not exactly in keeping with the religious injunctions on the subject, not at least as we understand them. Critical dates are predetermined using scientific data, but remain, as in our case, “subject to the appearance of moon’.

The cleric hierarchy is then persuaded to confirm these at the appropriate time “as seen”. Our ulema, members of a freewheeling democracy, are indeed less obliging.

Secondly, the new moon might not make its first appearance over the holy land. That location was more likely to be closer to the western coasts of the Americas. That meant that the farther away one was from the Arabian Peninsula, the greater would be the difference in local sighting and observance of lunar-related events.

More importantly, does one really believe that celebrating Eid on the same day helps uniting the people, even at the national level? In our case, it has had just the opposite effect. The concept of Muslim nationhood in fact was much stronger in the pre-RHC era. Faithfuls in faraway places expressed allegiance, often nominally, to some caliphate housed in the cradle of Islam. Sighting of moons and religious rituals were all local affairs. And just in case these arguments against centralising religious customs were not persuasive enough, a bit of threat might be. The very thought of starting Ramazan on the same day throughout the country, might deter Russia – spread over eleven time zones – from converting to Islam (that is, if it wanted to). A country like China may have its reasons to adopt a single standard time, but then the Uighurs in Xinjiang must offer their noon prayers at 1500 hours Beijing time.

It is unlikely that the Pakistan Army would ever be asked to sight the moon, but another of its inventions, the local bodies, can be given a purpose in life. They can salvage us from our squabbling moon-watchers. The concept of devolution, the creation of a military institution no doubt, was actually meant to organise the community.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2010.