Eid Al-Fitr: Pakistan’s moonsighting committee to meet in Islamabad today

Members of Pakistan Ramadan moon-sighting committee pray before watching the new moon in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 13, 2021. (AFP/File)

• The country’s Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will be working with the science ministry and use its data to sight the Shawwal crescent
• Saudi Arabia has already announced that Thursday will be the first day of Eid Al-Fitr in the kingdom

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, which announces the sighting of the new moon, will meet in the federal capital on Wednesday to determine the beginning of Eid Al-Fitr in the country. 
Last year, the committee’s newly appointed chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad agreed with the government for the first time to work together with the science ministry and use its data for the sighting of the moon.
The beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan along with Eid holidays and Shiite mourning month of Muharram are determined by moonsighting in Pakistan for which the country has set up a committee of religious scholars.
The use of technology to determine the beginning of Muslim months according to the Islamic lunar calendar has largely remained a contentious issue among conservative clerics who emphasize the necessity of physical sighting of the moon.
The Saudi Royal Court has already announced that Eid Al-Fitr will be celebrated in the kingdom on Thursday. 
It is likely that Pakistan will begin its Eid celebrations on Friday.