In a first, the newly appointed chief of Ruete Hilal Committee, Maulana Abdul Khabir, has expressed his willingness to adopt scientific knowledge in moon-sighting “within the limits of Shariah”.
According to Dawn, Khabir made the remarks during a meeting with Federal Minister of Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry who had over the past year made headlines for his tussle with former committee chief Mufti Muneebur Rehman over the Islamic calendar and moon sighting.
The meeting came after Fawad informed Khabir about setting up observatories in Islamabad for moon sighting.
“In this modern age, every problem has been solved with the help of scientific knowledge and only nations that use science are making progress. Islam and science are not contradictory but the importance of knowledge in Islam distinguishes it from other religions,” the publication quoted Fawad as saying.
The minister reportedly assured Khabir of full cooperation, adding that his office would support the committee to reach consensus with the help of science.
Earlier, Muneeb had opposed Fawad’s offer to use technology in moon sighting and expressed dismay over the minister developing a five-year lunar calendar containing all dates of Islamic events in Pakistan, including Ramzan, Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha and Muharram.
The new chairperson, however, has expressed willingness to cooperate and even asked the federal minister to make every effort to take Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai on board to reach a nation-wide consensus on moon sighting.
Mufti Popalzai, of Peshawar’s Qasim Ali Khan mosque, had also opposed use of science and latest technologies.
Maulana Khabir has said he would also like to bring the committee on a visit to the ministry to brief them on the importance of scientific research and how it could benefit all, reports say.
