Fawad Chaudhry claims Shawwal moon will be sighted on Saturday evening

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said Eidul Fitr will be celebrated in the country tomorrow, on Sunday.

He pointed out the locations where moon sighting is possible tonight:

While addressing a press briefing on Saturday in Islamabad, he stressed that his ministry wanted to end the conflict over moon-sighting by relying on technology,

Read More : Shawwal moon sighted, Eid-ul-Fitr to be celebrated on Sunday in Pakistan

He further added that he rejects notions that technology should not be involved in moon-sighting.

“Islam is a religion of knowledge and intellect. Whoever says technology should not be involved in moon-sighting, we reject their perspective. When you wear glasses, this is also technology. How can you say if I see with glasses, it is halal but if I see through a telescope, it is haram?” he questioned.

“The government is always trying to accommodate different religious groups which have resulted in empowering sectarian groups. We see that our state accommodates religious groups during the Eid conflict every year even though we should pay heed to the Constitution, law, and human intelligence in some matters”, he further added.

“Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, who heads Peshawar’s Qasim Khan Mosque, makes a different announcement, the Ruet-i-Hilal committee makes another, so we decided this year [that the science ministry] would use technology to determine when Eid should be celebrated”, he further added.

He stressed that the ministry of science and technology had formed a committee comprising members from the space technology department, mathematicians, and officials from the meteorological department, which concluded that Eidul Fitr in Pakistan will be tomorrow. He added that the committee also took the opinions of ulema into consideration.