Met Office predicts slight chance of Ziquad moon sighting on July 3

KARACHI: Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has said there is a slight chance of sighting of new moon of Ziquad, 1440 AH on July 3 (29 Shawwal), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

New moon of Ziquad, 1440 AH will born on crossing conjunction point at 00-16 PST on July 03, the met office in a statement said.

According to astronomical parameters, there is slight chance of sighting the Ziquad moon on the evening of July 03 i.e. on 29th of Shawwal, 1440 AH, met office statement said.

According to climate record, the weather is expected fair/partly cloudy in most parts of the country.

Moon-sighting Controversy

The moon sighting always remains a contentious issue in Pakistan and the controversy further raged after Pakistan’s Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry announced in last Ramazan that his ministry has prepared a lunar calendar and Shawwal moon likely to be sighted on June 4 and Eidul Fitr would fall on June 5 in the country.

Minister Chaudhry talking to journalist said that his ministry prepared a lunar calendar for the next five years having details from Year 2019 to 2024. The minister said that they had forwarded the calendar to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and sought its recommendations.

The issue became controversial as religious class including the chairman of official Ruet-e-Hilal Committee rebuked Chaudhry over ” his interference in religious matters”.

It was said that the Council of Islamic Ideology would convene a meeting after the Eidul Fitr to review the lunar calendar issue and seek suggestions from religious scholars of different schools of thought but the matter seemed being kept on the back burner.