The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee’s meeting in Islamabad for the sighting of the Shawwal moon is underway.
Members of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, and representatives of the Department of Meteorology are participating in the meeting — which is being presided over by the committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad — at the religious affairs ministry in the capital.
Representatives of Sparco are also present in the meeting, in which the committee will collect testimonials from all over the country regarding the sighting of the moon.
The meeting of the zonal committee in Karachi is also underway and is being presided over by Hafiz Muhammad Salafi.
Earlier, Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council Secretary General Khalid Aijaz ruled out the possibility of the moon sighting on April 20.
Speaking to Geo News, the official said that the crescent marking beginning of Shawwal will be sighted after the completion of 30 days of Ramadan, according to which Eid ul Fitr will fall on April 22, Saturday.
Aijaz also predicted the time of the moon sighting, saying that the new moon will be born at 9:13am on April 20 and its age will be less than 10 hours that day.
“For the crescent to be sighted, the duration should be more than 19 hours and even if the sky is clear that day [April 20], the moon wouldn’t be spotted,” he said.
Therefore, any testimony received on April 20 will be false as the month of Ramadan will last for 30 days and the 1st Shawwal will fall on April 22.
The federal government has announced that it had approved a five-day Eid holiday from the 21st to the 25th of April.