Eidul Adha: Ruet body meets tomorrow for Zil Hajj moon sighting

KARACHI: A meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will be held tomorrow (Monday) for sighting the crescent of Islamic month of Zil Hajj in Pakistan, ARY News reported.

According to a religious ministry spokesperson, Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, the chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, will preside over the meeting in Karachi.

Similarly, zonal committees will also hold meetings in various cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar on the same day.

It is worth mentioning here that the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee meets on the 29th of every Islamic month and makes the announcement after sighting the moon.

Eidul Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, is one of two Eid festivals celebrated by the Muslim faithful to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son to the God. Traditionally marked by the slaughter of animals, whose meat is shared with family members and the poor.

The faithful slaughter their sacrificial animals in remembrance of the tradition of Prophet Ibrahimi, which continues for three days of Eid.

The National Assembly of Pakistan has passed “The Pakistan Ruet-e-Hilal Bill 2022” bill declaring unofficial moon-sighting by private bodies liable to punishment.

The bill was moved by Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan in the absence of Religious Affairs Minister Talha Mehmood. “The Pakistan Ruet-e-Hilal Bill” had been pending in the lower house of parliament since 2021.

According to the bill, no committee, entity or organisation by whatever name called, other than the federal, provincial and district committees for sighting the moon, shall operate in all over Pakistan or any part.

Violators of Act will be fined Rs500,000 whereas those making false evidence of moon sighting shall be imprisoned for three years and fined Rs50,00, the bill said.