ISLAMABAD: Even as people in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata celebrated Eid on Sunday, the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Com­mittee — the body officially recognised as the authority on moon-sighting in the country — announced that Eid will be celebrated across Pakistan today (Monday).

On Sunday night, people from across the country could see the waxing crescent of the Shawal moon from windows or on TV screens. Later, Mufti Muneebur Rehman completed the formality by announcing that testimonies had been received from all parts of the country, except KP.

Despite efforts by the government, and even the Met Office’s technical predictions, the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in Peshawar announced Eid a day earlier.

“The new moon was visible across the country. From its size, it was obvious that this was a 29th day crescent, since a 30-day crescent would have been comparatively larger,” said a Met Office official.

Accompanied by around 10 senior clerics from different schools of thought, including Qari Hanif Jalandhari and Allama Iftikhar Naqvi, Mufti Muneeb announced the sighting of Shawal 1438 Hijri.

He said that testimonies were received from nearly all major cities of the country, including Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Zhob and Sukkur.

“The moon is something that is visible to everybody and the whole nation will be celebrating Eid tomorrow,” Mufti Muneeb told Dawn, referring to the stubbornness of the clerics from the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque, who chose to celebrate Eid with Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

Responding to another query regarding the status of Eid celebrations in the wake of massive national tragedies — such as the terrorist attacks in Quetta and Parachinar and the Bahawalpur oil tanker inferno — Mufti Muneeb said that Eid was a reward from Almighty Allah to the faithful after a month of fasting.

“The core essence of Eid is to give thanks to Allah through prayers and not indulging in unethical or un-Islamic practices in the garb of celebration,” he said.

The government had earlier decided to convene the meeting of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee in Peshawar, but the venue was shifted to Islamabad due to the “sensitive law and order situation” in the provincial metropolis.

The committee’s efforts to develop a consensus with the management of the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque also fell through when the latter convened their own meeting on Saturday and announced Eid a day before the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee’s scheduled meeting.

Following Sunday’s announcement, the Ministry of Religious Affairs will notify Eid beginning on Monday to officially ratify the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee’s decision.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2017