Pardon my language but every year there are two occasions when it gets as embarrassing as having your pants pulled down. The two moons (no pun intended) of Ramadan and Shawal have been controversial for decades, and it seems never-ending.
Every year, in the areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, a controversy arises that whose moon is more accurate: the one of the local Maulvi or the one sighted by the government-appointed Maulvi? The practice was less exposed in the 1990s but as the electronic media grew in the last decade, the "divide" has become more evident than ever.
Like every year, the Mufti at Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, a mosque in Peshawar concluded that today would be the first day of Ramadan. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai claimed that he received a number of "witness accounts" for the new moon. Twenty-nine days later, he will again claim the same thing. After that, he will wait till the next year to stir a controversy. This has been happening for decades and will continue for decades to come unless we find a solution.
The solution is very simple. Spread awareness about how the universe works. The Qur'an also instructs its followers to study about the things that Allah created. Modern science can project the expected date when the moon is visible. Technically, the new moon is never visible; it is the first crescent which is considered to be the "new moon." The first crescent is visible when the moon appears between the time of sunset and moonset. Moonset is time when the lower part of the Moon is about to disappear below the horizon. The expected illumination for Karachi on August 1st is 3.6% at an altitude of 71.1 degrees. Almost the same calculations are there for Islamabad and Kabul, Afghanistan. I believe it would not change much for Peshawar too. So is it a case of telescopic eyesight?
Every year, in the areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, a controversy arises that whose moon is more accurate: the one of the local Maulvi or the one sighted by the government-appointed Maulvi? The practice was less exposed in the 1990s but as the electronic media grew in the last decade, the "divide" has become more evident than ever.
Like every year, the Mufti at Masjid Qasim Ali Khan, a mosque in Peshawar concluded that today would be the first day of Ramadan. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai claimed that he received a number of "witness accounts" for the new moon. Twenty-nine days later, he will again claim the same thing. After that, he will wait till the next year to stir a controversy. This has been happening for decades and will continue for decades to come unless we find a solution.
The solution is very simple. Spread awareness about how the universe works. The Qur'an also instructs its followers to study about the things that Allah created. Modern science can project the expected date when the moon is visible. Technically, the new moon is never visible; it is the first crescent which is considered to be the "new moon." The first crescent is visible when the moon appears between the time of sunset and moonset. Moonset is time when the lower part of the Moon is about to disappear below the horizon. The expected illumination for Karachi on August 1st is 3.6% at an altitude of 71.1 degrees. Almost the same calculations are there for Islamabad and Kabul, Afghanistan. I believe it would not change much for Peshawar too. So is it a case of telescopic eyesight?
Well, sadly it is not. Pakhtuns are known for great feats but they cannot tweak the ways of the nature. The whole problems has two dimensions. The reason that I mentioned the name of Kabul here is because they observe their Ramadan with the Saudi calendar. As I am told, being at an altitude causes obstruction in viewing the first crescent. So, the tribal elders of that area decided decades ago to observe the Saudi calendar. The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whose capital is Peshawar, was under the influence of these tribal leaders, and hence, the tradition followed.
However, this is more than that meets the eyes. The current head of Ruht-e-Hilal Committee (Committee for Moon Sightings) belongs to a different sect than the Mufti Popalzai. The political agenda behind this issue is to make the Mufti heading Ruht-e-Hilal look bad and "less" Muslim. A few years back, the same Mufti Popalzai "claimed" that there is a moon is the sky and Eid was announced – for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at least. The next day, the Meteorological Department revealed that the moonset took place before the sunset and there was no scientific evidence of a Moon. However, it was too late. The damage was done. No one questioned the intentions of the Mufti. However, to this day, Mufti Popalzai is hell-bent to prove that Mufti Muneeb ur-Rehman and his Ruht-e-Hilal Committee alongwith the Meteorological Department are liars. His agenda is to prove himself more "pious" and a better "Mufti." Quite unusually, his claims are always coming near the end of the day.
Here I would like to suggest to something to the Meteorological Department. Next year, take your telescopes to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a day earlier, and as soon as the claims of the "new moon" arrive, they should snub it out with scientific evidence by sending it out to the media. The Auqaf Department needs to regulate the practices of Mosques too. A practice like the one being conducted by Masjid Qasim Ali Khan should be dealt with strictly.
Last but not the least, a thorough test of the water supply should be done, who knows we may have Pakhtuns with better eye-sights?
Last but not the least, a thorough test of the water supply should be done, who knows we may have Pakhtuns with better eye-sights?
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