Dark side of the moon (sighting)

With the start of the holy month of Ramazan merely days away, the perennial controversy regarding moon sighting is again rearing its ugly, embarrassing head. Every year the country goes through the melodrama where Ulema from Peshawar and adjoining areas declare the moon sighted a day or two before rest of the country. It is even more distressing that this situation arises only during two most revered Islamic months, Ramazan and Shawwal for Eid-ul-Fitr.

 

As reported in newspapers, recent efforts by the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs to mediate between the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee members and Ulema from Qasim Khan Mosque in Peshawar fell apart on Friday. Members of the delegation from Peshawar accused that the Ruet-e-Hilal committee works on an agenda to undermine Sharia practices.

The tussle between the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and the ulema of Qasim Khan Mosque dates back to more than two decades. The long standing allegation from the Ulema of Qasim Khan Mosque is that the Ruet-e-Hilal committee does not give credence to moon sighting claims of the witnesses from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The stance of Ruet-e-Hilal committee remains that it is an official body whose job is to ensure uniformity in decision-making and it is binding on every citizen to accept its decisions, instead of defying its authority.

The biggest controversy in this regard erupted in 2009 when the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government aligned its stance with the local clerics and officially announced Eid-ul-Fitr a day before the rest of the country. The entire situation became more of a mockery when a considerable portion of the KP population refused to abide by the local government's decision and celebrated Eid with the rest of the country.

Even if considering the grievances of clerics from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the level of irrationality displayed by the learned Ulema at the Friday's meeting was astonishing. They refused to engage in a reasonable discourse with the Senate's committee and, instead, constantly blamed the committee of pushing an agenda and evoking religion versus science debates. It is unfortunate how the two holiest months of the Islamic year, both marked with immense reverence, religious fervor and joy are marred by constant sparring and accusations.

Such personal egos, refusal to accept the state's authority and petty politics have also caused much grief and confusion to the general population. It is entirely plausible in Pakistan to have one's relatives and friends celebrate Eid on different dates. This situation creates numerous conundrums for the provincial government, which has to give extra holidays to compensate different Eid days among other scheduling, logistical differences.

The tragedy of this entire farcical matter is that it is absolutely avoidable. We live in a time of unprecedented scientific progress. The lunar pattern has been decisively charted which is why we are now able to predict lunar eclipses accurately for years ahead. It is beyond any reasonable person's comprehension why scientific information cannot be utilised to predict the moon's sighting. Ramazan and Shawwal now coincide with the monsoon season in the subcontinent. For the next few years, there will be a high probability of weather conditions hampering visibility of the new moon by the naked eye.

With such obvious hurdles in locally sighting the new moon, the Ulema must consider reverting to the scientific data available with the Met office. If the clerics can declare their decision using assistance of scientific equipment such as theodolites and telescopes, why can't they turn to more advanced techniques to sight the moon which can allow them to come to an accurate decision.

Other Muslim nations have turned to modern methods to assist them in moon sighting. Even Saudi Arabia has developed an Umm al-Qura calendar, which does not rely solely on local moon sighting. The same calendar is now followed by some of its neighbouring states in the Middle East. In addition to this, if it is still absolutely imperative to locate the moon with the naked eye, the clerics can at least use this information to ensure they don't announce Ramazan or Eid on a night when it is scientifically impossible for the moon to be visible, as the KP clerics and government did in 2009.

Pakistan is already divided along numerous fault lines. The problems of overwhelming insurgencies, violent sectarianism and crippling economy are complex and require long-term sacrifice and commitment to be overpowered. But observing religious rituals at the same time across the country is not an unimaginable goal. It can happen easily if the stakeholders - which include the public as much as the clergy - are willing to consider logical reasoning. One must consider the embarrassment Pakistan has to face at the international level, owing to these controversies surrounding moon sighting. Sadly, due to our rabid, rigid behaviour, a simple decision becomes one of the most divisive one for the entire country. The irony, of course, is all this happens for the month in which we pray for forgiveness, tolerance, unity and gratitude.

A slightly modified version appeared in Business Recorder (24 July 2011).