Fawad Chaudhry calls for dissolution of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has once again demanded the abolition of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.

Fawad Chaudhry criticised the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and argued that there is no need for such a committee in the modern era.

He said Eid-ul-Fitr will be held on Sunday (May 24) but the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee headed by Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman wants it to be held on Monday (May 25).

He also announced to reveal motives of the committee behind such a move during a press conference on Friday where he will highlight the necessary information.

This is not the first time Fawad Chaudhry has locked horns with the moon-sighting committee. Last year, the minister proposed that a scientific committee should replace the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for the sighting of the moon.

Sighting the moon ahead of major Islamic events (like Eid, Ramazan or Muharram) is an event in Pakistan.

People wait on tenterhooks for the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to decide whether the moon has been sighted or not. It gathers information from its sub-committees in provincial capitals and the main committee decides whether or not the moon has indeed been sighted. Teams from SUPARCO and the Pakistan Meteorological Department also sit with the committee to sight the moon.

The issue of moon sighting has never been as divisive as it has become today. In the past, Muslim scholars agreed on a certain method to decide the start and end of the month of Ramaḍān. In the last few years, advancements in communications and media have turned the world into a small village creating a new context where matters concerning trans-national relations are involved.

However, the Fiqh Council’s view that physical sighting must go hand in hand with scientific calculations finds numerous grounds in the Hadith.

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