Two Eids in Pakistan once again: KP govt announces Eid on Popalzai’s testimony

PESHAWAR: Eidul Fitr would be celebrated in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today (Tuesday) following an announcement by the Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai-led private Ruet-e-Hilal Committee that the Shawwal moon had been sighted as the KP government had also announced to celebrate Eid officially.

The announcement was made in Peshawar city’s historic Masjid Qasim Ali Khan where dozens of religious scholars and clerics assembled Monday evening to hear the testimonies from the faithful who claimed to have sighted the moon. The witnesses were accompanied by their local mosque prayer leaders (peshimams) to lend credibility to their claim. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, who belongs to a prominent religious family of Peshawar, told the media that they were satisfied after examining the testimonies from the faithful that the Shawwal moon had been sighted at several places in the province and, therefore, Eidul Fitr would be celebrated on Tuesday. He said that Ulema held meetings in Peshawar and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to hear testimonies about moon-sighting and examine the witnesses locally.

He explained that three testimonies were received in Mardan, 18 in Karak, 15 in Lakki Marwat, 10 in North Waziristan including seven in Mir Ali and the rest in Eidak, 48 in Bannu including 10 in Domel, four in Hangu, and two in Tangi in Charsadda.

Earlier, his aides said the Masjid Qasim Ali Khan had also received 13 testimonies from different villages and towns in Peshawar and two each from Buner and Swabi districts. The majority of the testimonies about moon-sighting were received in the southern Bannu district where the religious scholars gathered at the Ghulam Jilani mosque under the leadership of Maulana Abdur Razzaq Mojadeddi.

Similar meetings were held locally at major mosques in other districts to hear testimonies and convey the information to the Qasim Ali Khan mosque in Peshawar. However, as usual no testimony was received from the whole of Hazara and Malakand divisions where the faithful always ignore the moon-sighting announcement by Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai and follow the decision of the central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee headed by Mufti Muneebur Rahman. There also won’t be Eid today in the army cantonments and federal government institutions located in the province.

However, the Afghan refugees like always would be observing Eidul Fitr today. They normally celebrate Eid along with Afghanistan. Like most people in KP, the Afghan refugees also completed 29 days of fasting on Monday and would be celebrating Eidul Fitr today.