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CII consults religious scholars over moonsighting 'controversy'
 [DAWN] The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has reached out to religious scholars for their opinion on whether it is acceptable to follow the Islamic calendar without physical sighting of the moon, officials of CII told DawnNewsTV on Tuesday.Letters have been sent to Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia, Wafaqul Madaris al Sunnah, Wafaqul Madaris al-Shia and Wafaqul Madaris al-Salfia. Members of the CII will also be consulted on the matter. The CII will call a meeting after Eidul Fitr to give its ruling on this issue that has sparked a debate between the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry. The ministry had asked for a ruling within five days but the CII deemed it impossible, saying that most members had gone for Umrah and would not be available in Ramazan. Eidul Fitr's date will be announced by the Ruet-e-Hilal committee this year. The moonsighting 'controversy' reared its head earlier this month when Chaudhry formed a committee of five experts from the ministry of science and technology, Meteorological Department and the Pakistain Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) to determine sighting of the moon for key Islamic dates and months scientifically. The minister took the initiative after the National Assembly was informed that Rs3.06 million had been spent last year on the sighting of the crescent for Muharram, Ramazan, Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha. He had earlier been critical of the committee, saying that up to Rs4m was spent on the moon-sighting procedures every year and that it was time science and technology was utilised to end the controversy. Chaudhry had questioned the wisdom of spending large sums of money on moon-sighting every year, saying the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee should do this task on a voluntary basis. Posted by: Fred 2019-05-29 |
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