OVER the years moon-sighting has become a sort of routine controversy that visits the country often, but is almost a guarantee on the eve of Ramazan and Shawwal. The blame is generally passed on to the clergy — not without some justification, though — for its abject failure to agree on anything, but the controversy that erupted this year appears to have more of a political connotation, with the North West Frontier Province trying to take the Centre head-on.
The manner in which the episode was conducted on the eve of Ramazan and the way it is likely to repeat itself in a day or two suggests that the political battle between the MMA-led province and the Musharraf-led Centre has permeated most spheres of our national life.
The belief also gained strength when even the secular Awami National Party jumped into the fray, with MPA Bashir Ahmed Bilour submitting a resolution with the Provincial Assembly, demanding the abolition of the central Ruet-i-Hilal committee.
Mr Bilour, in the resolution, pleaded that like other Muslim countries Pakistan should also follow Saudi Arabia on matters related to the moon. “It is ridiculous to divide Muslims on moon-sighting issue and celebrate two, sometime three, Eid-ul-Fitr a year,” he remarked. He also complained that the Centre was “ignoring the ulema of the province”.
The general expectation was that with a government in place that has representation from various shades of the clergy, the moon-related controversy will come to an end, but, as things stand today, it has only gone worse, and the split, which earlier used to be restricted to the NWFP, is even visible in other provinces.
All through Ramazan, the atmosphere in the NWFP has remained a bit charged, and there has been so much talk of the Eid moon as if it is the first time the country is going to celebrate the festival. The result is that unsuspecting souls in the province now clearly distrust the Centre, which is, perhaps, what the MMA’s aim is.
In a clear indication of its intentions to challenge the writ of the Centre, the MMA appears all set to create history by officially taking a decision about the fate of the Shawwal moon on Monday, November 24, a day ahead of the official Ruet-i-Hilal committee meeting on Tuesday. The provincial Minister for Auqaf and Religious Affairs, Hafiz Akhtar Ali, initially said his ministry would make its own arrangements if the federal ministry concerned did not accept the demands put forth by the provincial government.
“The federal government should correct its decision regarding the Ramazan moon, and publicly acknowledge that the first of Ramazan fell on Oct 27, and not Oct 28,” the minister argued in a recent chat with Dawn Magazine. He complained that the Centre always had a bias against the NWFP, and discouraged its witnesses regarding the sighting of the moon.
Contacted a few days later, the minister appeared to be a bit mellow, saying a proposal had come from Maulana Hassan Jan — the Central Ruet member who resigned after the dispute — to hold a meeting of local Ruet-i-Hilal committees in Peshawar on Monday, November 24, in case the federal government failed to revise its own decision under which the meeting shall be held a day later.
The minister said he had accepted the proposal, and the provincial government would fully facilitate the meeting, and would follow the verdict of the Monday meeting. “However, we are still hopeful that the federal government would revise its decision,” he added.
Interestingly, sources close to Maulana Hassan Jan, who by then had gone into Aitekaf, claimed that the Maulana had never forwarded such a proposal. According to them, the minister had himself requested the local and private committees to assemble at the Auqaf Complex, instead of holding separate meetings.
Though Maulana Jan did resign from the committee, it must be mentioned for the sake of record that he — and indeed all the Ruet members present on the occasion — had initially signed the document that was used for announcement purposes by the Ruet chief.
His protest basically was “against the derogatory remarks” of federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad and the federal Religious Affairs secretary. “Both should apologize for their remarks against the people of the NWFP, and for not reversing the decision of the central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee,” Maulana Jan said, further demanding that Mufti Munibur Rehman, the Ruet chief, should also be “removed from the chairmanship”.
He alleged that the majority of the Ruet members had testified the witnesses from Qalat on technical grounds, but Mufti Munib had refused to accept them.
The Frontier government had earlier demanded the removal of Mufti Munib, accusing him of having made the decision rather hastily, and ignoring “some credible witnesses”.
Some members of the central and zonal Ruet committees challenged Mufti Munib’s decision not to accept the testimony of the Qalat witnesses. They said that the Technical Expert of the central committee, Shabbir Ahmad Kakakhel, had found the relevant report from Qalat correct, and there should have been no dispute beyond that.
They said that initially even the chairman had agreed to reverse his decision, but “after having a discreet conversation on his cell-phone (apparently with someone in Islamabad), Prof Munib backed out from his commitments” and announced his independent verdict.
Director of the University of Peshawar’s Shaykh Zayed Islamic Centre, Prof Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, who is also member of the zonal committee, said Mufti Munib was in a great hurry to make the announcement. “We requested the chairman again and again to wait for the witnesses and delay the announcement, but he was reluctant to listen to any of the members,” Dr Abdul Ghafoor told Dawn Magazine.
The kind of moon-related controversies we experience almost every year are unique to Pakistan, and are not generally heard of in other Islamic countries. The last year (2002) was the only occasion in two decades when Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated on the same day across Pakistan. This is in sharp contrast to a war devastated Afghanistan where no such disagreement was in evidence even during the country’s worst period spread over the last three decades.
The presence of self-appointed Ruet bodies in districts and towns across the NWFP is one of the major reasons behind the lingering confusion. Peshawar, Mardan and Swabi districts are the worst hit by such committees. Interestingly, based on the decision of one such body, this year Mardan went one step ahead of even Saudi Arabia, and observed fast on Sunday, October 26!
In Peshawar, the Qasim Ali Khan mosque is the focal point of such activity where local ulema assemble and declare their decision. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, the khateeb of the mosque, says the tradition dates back to the time when Peshawar was part of Afghanistan, and the sixth generation of the Popalzai family was now doing this “noble job”. According to the young mufti, they always tried to cooperate with the central Ruet committee, but the latter did not accept their witnesses.
Citing reasons behind early moon-sightings than is the case with other parts of the country, he said the NWFP had locational advantage as compared to the rest of the country; it is closer to the geographical west and enjoys clear weather, which makes it easier to sight the new moon. Most importantly, he said, the people of the NWFP were “more religious minded” and took moon-sighting much more seriously than is the case otherwise.
Interestingly, three witnesses from Regi, a suburban area, had appeared before the local committee of Qasim Ali Khan Mosque, headed by Mufti Popalzai, and had claimed the sighting of Ramazan moon on Oct 26. While the self-appointed committee had accepted the witnesses, Maulana Hassan Jan, who has since resigned from the central Ruet body, had publicly rejected the Regi witnesses, arguing that their statements did not corroborate with each other. However, most of the people in Peshawar and other districts still followed the verdict of Mufti Popalzai.
Even the critics of the central Ruet body, like Maulana Hassan Jan and Minister for Religious Affairs Hafiz Akhter Ali, concede that local moon-sighting committees were causing confusion. Learning from the Ramazan episode, the MMA government requested the ulema to abolish their respective committees for the Eid moon, but the request has not been entertained. Hafiz Akhtar, the minister, says the government will have to do something about it.
Qari Ruhullah Madni, a former provincial minister for Religious Affairs, believes local moon-sighting committees do not carry any legal status in the light of Shariah laws. “According to the Shariah, only the central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee has the authority to make the final decision in this regard. It doesn’t matter if the verdict is right or wrong. Even the provincial government cannot form its own parallel body. Only the central committee can accept witnesses, who are mostly its own nominees,” asserts Qari Ruhullah.
He said the government should immediately clamp a ban on these local committees. “We have the laws to take stern action against these so-called committees and we should make use of these laws,” he said. Besides, he also advised the central Ruet body not to make haste while announcing its verdict, which sometimes hurts its credibility, especially in the Frontier.
He said renowned clerics of the province hailing from Malakand, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara regions and the adjacent tribal belt followed the decision of the central Ruet body. Many prominent ulema, like the late Maulana Mufti Mehmood, his son Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Yousaf Banuri, he said, followed the Centre on the issue.
The private committees, however, remain adamant. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, of Qasim Ali Khan mosque, says he has no intention to join the Auqaf Complex assembly. “Like in the past, a meeting will be held at the mosque, and we will not join the official meeting, because people do not trust government-sponsored Ruet-i-Hilal committees,” he said.
In view of what happened this Ramazan — and is likely to happen on the eve of Shawwal — Qari Ruhullah suggested that the federal government should reconstitute the central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee to restore people’s confidence. He suggested giving equal representation in the committee to the four provinces and all sects in the country, to be headed by a judge of the Federal Shariat Court.
Talking about a permanent solution to the problem, a number of clerics, including Maulana Hassan Jan, believe that like other Islamic countries, Pakistan should also follow Saudi Arabia in matters related to the sighting of the moon. They question that when people in the Middle East, the Central Asia, Europe, Africa and America observe Ramazan and celebrate Eids following announcements made in Saudi Arabia, why can’t we in Pakistan do the same.
“All Muslims have religious and emotional attachment with Saudi Arabia where all decisions are made in accordance with Shariah laws,” argues Maulana Hassan Jan.
But some quarters fear that not all sects would agree to the proposal, and would raise objections if the government decided to follow Saudi Arabia. “That can generate another controversy in the country,” says Dr Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, of the University of Peshawar.
What about making use of science? The Shariah interpretation says only a naked-eye sighting of the moon can serve the purpose. While science and scientific equipment can be used as a tool, they cannot be the whole basis of any decision. As things stand today, there is apparently no way out of the crisis, which, like a lot of other things, is rather unfortunate.
OVER the years moon-sighting has become a sort of routine controversy that visits the country often, but is almost a guarantee on the eve of Ramazan and Shawwal. The blame is generally passed on to the clergy — not without some justification, though — for its abject failure to agree on anything, but the controversy that erupted this year appears to have more of a political connotation, with the North West Frontier Province trying to take the Centre head-on.
