Sighting the moon

The crescent controversy has once again erupted in the country and unfortunately this time it has pitched science against scripture. The clergy wants supremacy over everything else, whereas the minister for science and technology maintains that science confirms, augments and serves religious thought in a more conclusive manner. I think there is a very simple way to find out who is correct. Let’s wait till the 14th of the moon, when its disc will be a perfect circle and decisively visible to all. If the 14th of the moon falls on August 3 then the minister would have been right and if it falls on the 4th of August then Mufti Sahib was right. Furthermore, who so ever happens to be right should be entrusted as the final authority with the task of all future moon sightings in Pakistan. If it is the RHC, it should continue functioning as heretofore. But should the minister happen to be right then the meteorological department be given this responsibility.

In today's age, if one has to sight the moon wearing spectacles, eye lenses and seeing through powerful telescopes, what stops one from seeing the new moon through laser scopes penetrating through the clouds and spotting the moon or with the help of scores of orbiting navigational satellites or with the arithmetical accuracy of astronomy?

Col (r) Riaz Jafri

Rawalpindi