EDITORIAL: Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations were spoiled, once again, as the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (CRHC) waited until nearly midnight to declare Thursday as the Eid day. Many people had gone to bed by then to rise early the next morning for Sahr, only to be caught by surprise. Those still awake were at a loss to make necessary preparations for traditional festivities. More importantly, the committee’s decision was not entirely trusted. Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary who, for quite a while, has been calling for employing the scientific method to determine precise moment and duration of the Shawwal moon’s appearance, contended in Twitter post “there was no chance” of sighting the moon on Wednesday, stating that its age was 13 hours 42 minutes at the time of sunset in Pakistan. Ending the holy month with “false” claims of moon sighting was not a wise approach, he added. Also lending weight to his assertions was a video that went viral on social media. In it, one of the CRHC members, Mufti Yaseen Zafar, could be heard expressing doubts about the announcement in a telephoning conversation with someone, and telling the person on the other end that the announcement was made “in a bid to show unity.”
The controversy soon spread. The decision was also challenged by former CRHC chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman as he asked those who had been sitting in ‘aitkaaf’ to make up for the ‘qaza’ and also keep fast on Friday, as he would do. However, the PM’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi came out to defend the CRHC decision which, he said, was based on testimonies, hence, the believers were not required to make up for any ‘qaza.’ As for the inordinate delay in the announcement, he offered the explanation that the information related to the sighting of the moon was being verified by Darul Ifta (fatwa department) of Pakistan, happily making the point that those who doubted the decision celebrated the Eid the same day. That though was also an acknowledgement that it’s been a controversial announcement, like on so many previous occasions. The issue needs to be resolved once and for all in the light of scientific knowledge.
It is worth recalling that in olden days, the time of daytime mandatory prayers was determined by measuring the shadow cast by the sun. That changed with the invention of a modern time measuring tool: the clock. Everywhere the faithful use it for saying prayers as well as for ascertaining the Sahr and Iftar timings. In fact, the CRHC members also employ another scientific invention, telescope, to spot the new moon. There is no reason why science cannot be relied upon for telling the time of Shawwal moon’s appearance. In fact, the Muslim world prides itself on the great contributions Muslims made to the development of modern science. That tradition needs to be revived rather than negated. Religious leaders in this country should help promote those lost values as well. Unfortunately, however, the Ruet-e- Hilal Committee has repeatedly demonstrated that it is not up to the task expected of it. It is therefore imperative that Eid-ul-Fitr is observed on the basis of precise information provided by science so that uncertainty does not precede every Eid.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.