ISLAMABAD: The Meteorological Office has forecast that Eidul Fitr will fall on June 26, as the Shawwal crescent will be visible in the country on Sunday, June 25.

“Astronomical parameters suggest there is a good chance of sighting the new moon of Shawwal on the evening of 25-06-2017,” the Met Office said on Wednesday.

It said the Shawwal crescent would be “born on crossing conjunction point” at 7:31am on June 24 and would be visible on the evening of June 25, which would be the 29th of Ramazan.

The Met Office said the moon should be visible in most parts of the country but the weather would be “fairly or partly cloudy” across Pakistan.

Meanwhile, to avoid any controversy, especially those that follow independent announcements about sightings by clerics like Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Peshawar, the religious affairs ministry has decided to hold meeting of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee in Peshawar this year.

“We will invite Mufti Popalzai to the meeting and it is expected that he will send a representative if he himself does not come,” said Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousuf recently.

At the same time the government is streamlining laws related to the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, but because the subject has been devolved, consent of the provinces is required by the federal government to formulate them.

Interestingly, the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, currently headed by Mufti Muneebur Rehman, has no legal status as the subject was devolved to the provinces in 2010.

However, the committee is still recognised by the federal and provincial governments as the appropriate forum for the sighting of new moons.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2017