Eid-ul-Fitr 2020 in Pakistan: Ruet-e-Hilal Committee meeting underway for Shawwal moon sighting

KARACHI: The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee  session is underway to sight the Shawwal moon and to announce when the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated in the country.

The meeting  is being held in Karachi with Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman in the chair, while meetings of the zonal committees are in progress at their respective provincial headquarters.

In Quetta, the provincial committee has announced that it has received a few testimonies from Pasni and Ormara. "We have informed the Central committee of this," said Qari Abdul Rasheed.

The zonal committee said the final decision will be made by the Central committee.

Mufti Muneeb, addressing the media, said that "when the final decision will be made, it will be announced before the media".

He said it was "not appropriate" to speculate at this time.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said, “The Shawwal moon was born on May 22 at 10:39pm and will be visible between 7:36pm and 8:15pm tonight in Sanghar, Badin, Thatta, Jeevni and Pasni."

Eid in India and Bangladesh on Monday

Meanwhile,  the authorities in Bangladesh and India have announced that Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on May 25 (Monday) as moon was not visible today.

Delhi’s Jama Masjid Shahi Imam has also appealed to the people to take precautions and maintain social distancing. 

A senior official of Bangladesh's religious ministry confirmed that the Shawwal moon has not been sighted in the country and the first of Shawwal will fall on Monday.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Sunday as the moon was not sighted on Friday.

The Jeddah-based Okaz paper reported that the moon-sighting committee had said that Saturday, May 23, would be the last day of Ramadan, while Sunday, May 24, would be the first day of Eid — Shawwal 1, 1441.

The UAE will also celebrate Eid on Sunday as the moon-sighting committee set up by the justice ministry announced that the moon was not sighted and Shawwal 1 would fall on Sunday, May 24.

The newspaper also reported that Indonesia, Turkey, Indonesia, and Qatar would also observe Eid on Sunday.

Earlier this week, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had claimed that Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on May 24 (Sunday) in many countries, including Pakistan.

Speaking during a TV programme, Chaudhry said that according to the calendar prepared by the science ministry, this year Eid will be celebrated across the country on May 24.

The minister had said the interesting thing is that the festival will be celebrated on the same day in almost all parts of the world along with Pakistan, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan, like all Muslim countries, is gearing up to mark Eid-ul-Fitr amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken more than 1,000 lives in the country.

The country started observing Eid holidays from May 22 and will continue to do so till May 27, a notification from the interior ministry said on Saturday.