Curious about the holiday dates for Eidul Fitr 2023 in Pakistan? The Ruet-i-Hilal Research Council (RHRC) has recently released their expected date for the sighting of the Shawwal moon in Pakistan this year. Image source Gulf News
On Friday, the Ruet-i-Hilal Research Council announced that Eidul Fitr is expected to be observed across Pakistan on Saturday, April 22.
The Secretary-General of the council, Khalid Ijaz Mufti, stated that the committee will gather on Thursday, April 20, to sight the Shawwal moon.
If the crescent is visible on Thursday evening, Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Friday, April 21. However, Mr. Mufti expressed his belief that the moon will not be sighted that evening.
He further noted that after completing 30 fasting days of the holy month of Ramazan, Eid is expected to be observed on April 22. The council predicts that the birth of the moon will occur on Thursday, April 20, at 9:13 am Pakistan time.
According to the council, the age of the moon at sunset on the 29th of Ramazan should be more than 19 hours for sighting. However, it will be less than 10 hours in all areas of Pakistan.
The difference between sunset and moonset should be more than 40 minutes, but it will only be 21 minutes in Peshawar, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Charsadda, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Quetta, and Jiwani, and 20 minutes in Lahore and Karachi.
According to reports, even with a telescope, there is no possibility of sighting the moon on the evening of April 20, regardless of clear weather conditions throughout Pakistan.
Mufti announced that the 30th of Ramazan will be observed on April 21, while the 1st of Shawwal will be celebrated on April 22. He emphasized that any reports of crescent sighting on the evening of April 20 would be false, regardless of the province, city, or area.
On the evening of April 21, the moon’s age at sunset will exceed 33 hours in all parts of Pakistan, with a considerable difference between sunset and moonset of 80 minutes, as per Mufti.
As a result, the crescent is expected to appear thick and late on the night of the 30th fast, which may lead some individuals to believe it is a two-day-old crescent instead of the first. However, from both a Sharia and scientific perspective, it will be considered the first crescent.
Eidul Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramazan, during which Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. The festival is usually celebrated with prayers, family gatherings, and feasting. The date of Eidul Fitr is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, which indicates the start of the Islamic month of Shawwal.
