Eidul-Fitr 2019 moon-sighting: Popalzai calls meeting on Monday
Eidul-Fitr 2019 moon-sighting
Peshawar: Defying the government’s attempts to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr same day across the country, Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai has called a meeting of his own moon-sighting committee to site the moon of Shawal on Monday.
“The Masjid Qasim Ali Khan has called a meeting tomorrow to site the moon for Eidul Fitr with Mufti Shahabudin Popalzai in the lead,” tweeted Iftikhar Firdous, a senior journalist based in Khyber Paktunkhwa province of which Peshawar is capital.
The cleric from Peshawar has long created controversies on moon-sighting, refusing to accept the decisions of official Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.
The official moon-sighting body is due to meet on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Mufti Munibur Rehman.
Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry has already announced that Eid-ul-Fitr would be celebrated on June 5 on the basis of scientific data that suggest moon sighting would be on June 4.
Both Mufti Munibur Rehman and Popalzai have criticized the minister for what they see as his interference in the matters of religion.