Most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa celebrated Eid a day before the rest of the country this year too. According to Qasim Ali Khan Mosque’s unofficial moon sighting committee, loyal to the cleric Mufti Popalzai, the Shawwal moon was seen in the province on July 16. Those who follow Pakistan’s official moon sighting committee headed by Mufti Muneebur Rehman believe the moon appeared on July 17.
The debate over who is right begins with the commencement of Ramzan every year, and continues for a month. It gets highly charged at the start of the holy month, and then at the end of it, sometimes leading to fighting between the followers of the two opinions.
The issue is deeply political. “Punjabis are not ready to give Pashtuns the status of equal citizens,” one man in Peshawar said. “The testimonies of Pashtuns are not acceptable to them.” Another claimed Mufti Muneebur Rehman is against the Deobandi school of thought, which is common amongst the Pashtuns. Yet another one put forward an incredible conspiracy theory. “The Shias have influence in the official moon sighting committee, and they don’t want us to observe Eid the same day as Saudi Arabia,” he asserted. A majority of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjacent tribal areas follow the announcement by the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque. Most people in the Hazara division follow Mufti Muneebur Rehman’s announcement.
In Malakand division, the opinion is sharply divided. They observe two or three Eids every year. Qasim Ali Khan Mosque does not have a subcommittee in Malakand. Another key factor is the strong presence of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in the division. Mufti Popalzai, who is a leader of the Almi Majlis-e-Tahafuz-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwat, is close to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) as they both follow the Deobandi school of thought. And that is why Imams with a JI background do not follow his announcement. Their political rivals – activists of the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – therefore have a soft corner for Mufti Popalzai. The late Bashir Bilour, a senior provincial minister who was killed in a suicide attack by the Taliban, had once announced the day of Eid in the province while sitting in Qasim Ali Khan Mosque. The JI in Malakand Division did not follow the decision.
Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith and Afghan refugees also have pockets of influence in Malakand. They follow Saudi Arabia and Kabul respectively. In some parts of the division, their Eid fell on the same day as Mufti Popalzai’s this year.
“This split poses a grave threat to federal unity, but the government is not taking it seriously,” says Malakand-based journalist Gohar Ali Gohar. But Hamza Khan, a resident of Nagram in Lower Dir, looks at the issue in a different way. “I like three Eids,” he says. “More Eids, more fun.”
The Charsadda, Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are known for sighting the moon before the rest of the country. But the residents of Haider Khel village in North Waziristan always take the lead. “We follow the decision of Maulvi Gulbaz Khan of Haider Khel,” says Azmat Khan, a resident of Mir Ali, who spent another Eidul Fitr in Bannu, away from home because of the military operation in North Waziristan.
This year, five people in Peshawar, 20 in Bannu and seven people in Karak claimed they saw the moon. Due to overcast conditions, the people of Mardan and Charsadda were out of the race. A tribesman of Haider Khel village, despite being away from home, succeeded in sighting the moon in Bannu.
Situated in Bazaar-e-Misgaran, the historic Qasim Ali Khan mosque is one of the oldest in Peshawar. Imams of the Popalzai tribe – a powerful tribe of Peshawar – have controlled the mosque for decades. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, the nephew of freedom fighter Abdur Rahim Popalzai II, is the current imam of the mosque. “We take an oath from the people who come for testimony,” he says. “We judge the social standing of the individual who is also accompanied by the prayer leader of his area. If we are satisfied with the witnesses, then we announce Eid.”
Professor Abdul Bashar, a member of the moon sighting committee run by Qasim Ali Khan Mosque, says Mufti Muneeb’s committee finishes its meeting too early. “Suppose the moon is sighted in a far-flung area of Khyber agency,” he says. “The witnesses need time to reach us. We wait for them.”
The mosque has been inviting moon sighting witnesses for the last 189 years, he says, and people have great respect for it.
Mufti Muneebur Rehman declined to comment. But Mufti Tariq Masood Sahab, a religious scholar who teaches at Jamiatur Rasheed Karachi, says the “Popalzai Eid” is unjustified.
“In the presence the Central Moon Sighting Committee formed by the government, a private moon sighting committee should not be allowed to operate,” he says.
If seen on purely scientific grounds, the decision of the central committee is more logical, says Mushtaq Shah, the director of the Regional Meteorological Center in Peshawar. “Technically, it is almost impossible that the moon appears on the same day in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan,” he explains. “It could happen, but only once in 15 years.” Because of Pakistan’s geography, the first moon usually disappears just before sunset. “On the next day, the crescent is two days old, and larger in size, but it will be its first appearance in Pakistan.”
Tahir Ali is an Islamabad-based journalist
Email: tahirafghan@gmail.com
Twitter: @tahirafghan
The debate over who is right begins with the commencement of Ramzan every year, and continues for a month. It gets highly charged at the start of the holy month, and then at the end of it, sometimes leading to fighting between the followers of the two opinions.
The issue is deeply political. “Punjabis are not ready to give Pashtuns the status of equal citizens,” one man in Peshawar said. “The testimonies of Pashtuns are not acceptable to them.” Another claimed Mufti Muneebur Rehman is against the Deobandi school of thought, which is common amongst the Pashtuns. Yet another one put forward an incredible conspiracy theory. “The Shias have influence in the official moon sighting committee, and they don’t want us to observe Eid the same day as Saudi Arabia,” he asserted. A majority of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjacent tribal areas follow the announcement by the Qasim Ali Khan Mosque. Most people in the Hazara division follow Mufti Muneebur Rehman’s announcement.
In Malakand division, the opinion is sharply divided. They observe two or three Eids every year. Qasim Ali Khan Mosque does not have a subcommittee in Malakand. Another key factor is the strong presence of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in the division. Mufti Popalzai, who is a leader of the Almi Majlis-e-Tahafuz-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwat, is close to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) as they both follow the Deobandi school of thought. And that is why Imams with a JI background do not follow his announcement. Their political rivals – activists of the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – therefore have a soft corner for Mufti Popalzai. The late Bashir Bilour, a senior provincial minister who was killed in a suicide attack by the Taliban, had once announced the day of Eid in the province while sitting in Qasim Ali Khan Mosque. The JI in Malakand Division did not follow the decision.
Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith and Afghan refugees also have pockets of influence in Malakand. They follow Saudi Arabia and Kabul respectively. In some parts of the division, their Eid fell on the same day as Mufti Popalzai’s this year.
Because of Pakistan's geography, the first moon usually disappears just before sunset
“This split poses a grave threat to federal unity, but the government is not taking it seriously,” says Malakand-based journalist Gohar Ali Gohar. But Hamza Khan, a resident of Nagram in Lower Dir, looks at the issue in a different way. “I like three Eids,” he says. “More Eids, more fun.”
The Charsadda, Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are known for sighting the moon before the rest of the country. But the residents of Haider Khel village in North Waziristan always take the lead. “We follow the decision of Maulvi Gulbaz Khan of Haider Khel,” says Azmat Khan, a resident of Mir Ali, who spent another Eidul Fitr in Bannu, away from home because of the military operation in North Waziristan.
This year, five people in Peshawar, 20 in Bannu and seven people in Karak claimed they saw the moon. Due to overcast conditions, the people of Mardan and Charsadda were out of the race. A tribesman of Haider Khel village, despite being away from home, succeeded in sighting the moon in Bannu.
Situated in Bazaar-e-Misgaran, the historic Qasim Ali Khan mosque is one of the oldest in Peshawar. Imams of the Popalzai tribe – a powerful tribe of Peshawar – have controlled the mosque for decades. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, the nephew of freedom fighter Abdur Rahim Popalzai II, is the current imam of the mosque. “We take an oath from the people who come for testimony,” he says. “We judge the social standing of the individual who is also accompanied by the prayer leader of his area. If we are satisfied with the witnesses, then we announce Eid.”
Professor Abdul Bashar, a member of the moon sighting committee run by Qasim Ali Khan Mosque, says Mufti Muneeb’s committee finishes its meeting too early. “Suppose the moon is sighted in a far-flung area of Khyber agency,” he says. “The witnesses need time to reach us. We wait for them.”
The mosque has been inviting moon sighting witnesses for the last 189 years, he says, and people have great respect for it.
Mufti Muneebur Rehman declined to comment. But Mufti Tariq Masood Sahab, a religious scholar who teaches at Jamiatur Rasheed Karachi, says the “Popalzai Eid” is unjustified.
“In the presence the Central Moon Sighting Committee formed by the government, a private moon sighting committee should not be allowed to operate,” he says.
If seen on purely scientific grounds, the decision of the central committee is more logical, says Mushtaq Shah, the director of the Regional Meteorological Center in Peshawar. “Technically, it is almost impossible that the moon appears on the same day in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan,” he explains. “It could happen, but only once in 15 years.” Because of Pakistan’s geography, the first moon usually disappears just before sunset. “On the next day, the crescent is two days old, and larger in size, but it will be its first appearance in Pakistan.”
Tahir Ali is an Islamabad-based journalist
Email: tahirafghan@gmail.com
Twitter: @tahirafghan