November 24, 2003	Monday	Ramazan 28, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Nov 23: A controversy over the sighting of Shawwal moon looms large after the MMA-led government called a meeting of zonal Ruet-i-Hilal committee at Auqaf Complex, Peshawar, on Monday to decide about observing of Eidul Fitr on Tuesday.

The central Ruet-i-Hilal committee would meet in Islamabad on Tuesday evening to decide whether the Eid would be celebrated on Wednesday or Thursday.

This controversy might lead the nation to celebrate three Eidul Fitrs on three consecutive days.

In a related development, clerics in Mardan district have announced that Eidul Fitr would be observed on Tuesday, if Shawwal moon was not sighted on Sunday evening.

Chief of Tanzeem Ulema Ruet-i-Hilal committee, Mardan, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad told Dawn by telephone: “There will be Eid on Monday if the local Ulema received credible testimony from any part of the area about the sighting of Shawwal moon. Otherwise, the faithful will observe Eid on Tuesday.”

He said that local clerics would assemble at Jamia Islamia Tehfeezul Karim, Mardan, on Sunday evening to decide about the sighting or otherwise of Shawwal moon.

NWFP Minister for Auqaf and Religious Affairs Hafiz Akhter Ali told Dawn that the three-member provincial zonal Ruet-i-Hilal committee would hold its meeting at Auqaf Complex in Peshawar on Monday. It would be hosted by the provincial government, he said.

“I myself will attend the meeting and the provincial government will follow a verdict of the committee,” the minister said.

According to the minister, a meeting was held in mid-Ramazan in which two senior members of the central Ruet-i-Hilal committee, Maulana Hassan Jan and Shabir Ahmad Kakakhel, had advised the auqaf department to convene the zonal committee meeting in Peshawar on Nov 24 (Monday), if the federal government did not call the central committee meeting the same day.

Interestingly, both members of the central committee, who had disagreed with central Ruet-i-Hilal committee chairman Prof Mufti Muneebur Rehman on the sighting of Ramazan moon are now in Aitekaf.

Maulana Hassan Jan has already resigned from the central committee, saying that he had no concern with the central or zonal committee meetings. He had resigned in protest against the remarks of information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad.

But Hafiz Akhter claimed that Maulana Hassan Jan and Mr Kakakhel would assist the zonal committee members.

Members of the zonal committee are also in a fix due to the controversy.

Director Shaykh Zayed Islamic Centre, University of Peshawar Prof Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, a member of the zonal committee, when approached, said the situation was quite confusing.

“It is for the first time that the zonal committee is holding its meeting prior to the central committee’s. In this event, the provincial minister for religious affairs would preside over the meeting,” he added.

Meanwhile, local Ulema will also assemble at Qasim Ali Khan mosque, Peshawar, to decide about the Shawwal moon. Mufti Shahabuddin Populzai will preside over the meeting. Local Ruet-i-Hilal committees would also meet in Charsadda, Swabi, Mardan and Bannu.