The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will gather in Islamabad Today (Thursday) to sight the Shawwal moon
The Ministry of Religious Affairs meeting in the capital will be chaired by Ruet-e-Halal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, as announced by the ministry last week.
Furthermore, the statement revealed that zonal committee meetings will occur at designated locations nationwide.
Previously, Khalid Aijaz, Secretary General of the Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council, dismissed the likelihood of a moon sighting on April 20 and claimed that the start of Shawwal will be visible after completing 30 days of Ramadan so Eid ul Fitr will be celebrated on Saturday, April 22.
Aijaz also estimated the moon sighting’s timing, stating that the new moon will emerge on April 20 at 9:13 a.m. and will be less than ten hours old that day.
“The crescent must be over 19 hours old to be visible, and even if the sky is clear that day [April 20], the moon will not be visible,” he explained.
Since the month of Ramadan will span thirty days and the first day of Shawwal will fall on April 22, any testimony received on April 20 will be inaccurate.
The federal government has approved a five-day Eid holiday from April 21 to April 25.
