D. I. KHAN, PAKISTAN: Citing examples of several moonsightings across the province, the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa government celebrated Eid on Tuesday, a day ahead of the rest of the country.
“The KP government has decided to celebrate Eid-Al-Fitr on Tuesday. At least 112 testimonies of moon sighting have been received by the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque and the provincial government has also received witnesses of sighting the Shawwal moon from different parts of the province,” Shaukat Yousafzai, KP Information Minister said.
“Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has expressed wishes to have Eid celebrations simultaneously in the province, the government has decided to observe Eid-Al-Fitr on Tuesday to have provincial harmony,” he added.
Meanwhile, Eid-Al-Fitr celebrations will begin in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the country’s Supreme Court said on Monday. It follows witness accounts of the Shawwal crescent moon being visible in some parts of the Kingdom on Monday evening.
On Saturday, the top court had called on all Muslims across the Kingdom to try and spot the crescent moon on Monday evening, which would be the 29th of Ramadan, 1440H, corresponding to June 3.
The UAE, Kuwait, and other Gulf countries will be celebrating Eid on Tuesday too, while Indonesia, Pakistan, Australia and other Asian countries will mark the occasion on Wednesday with no crescent moon sighted in those countries on Monday.
Earlier, Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, the chief cleric of the renowned Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in Peshawar, had said that Eid would be celebrated on Tuesday, on the basis of two dozen witness accounts from several parts of the province, including the country’s tribal areas.
However, the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, the country’s official body tasked with sighting the moon, is expected to meet in Karachi on Tuesday to review the dates. This, despite Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry’s announcement that the government of Pakistan would be celebrating Eid Al-Fitr on June 5.
