Why Pakistan celebrate two Eids every year?

For some reason, a cleric in Qasim Masjid in Peshawar has been able to collect about twenty men (having remarkably good eyesight) who claim they saw the moon, when it wasn’t there. This has been going on for over fifty years. I was in Peshawar in 1973, and saw Eid-al-Azha being observed on two days (the same thing will happen this year).

Can anyone explain how a few people saw the moon when all scientific calculations said it wouldn’t be there? And why it happens every year? I thought this idiosyncrasy would disappear after renaming the province, but apparently it didn’t work. These illiterate clerics simply can’t accept the fact that the sighting of the moon can be predicted accurately (just like solar and lunar eclipses). A lunar calendar (known as the Egyptian calendar) has been in use for 1400 years, and it usually coincides with the actual moon sighting in Makkah every month. Why can’t we use this calendar and dissolve the useless Ruet-e-Hilal committees and save a lot of money?


10 thoughts on “Why Pakistan celebrate two Eids every year?”

  1. In one particular area there should be one Eid day.
    The sighting of the new moon crescent (hilal) by the naked eye should be the gold standard providing the new moon crescent is there to be seen. Unfortunately, in many instances the the new moon crescent is not there to be seen but people claim to have seen it, so Eid is pronounced a day early.
    If scientific calculations state that it is impossible to see the new moon crescent then the testimony of any witnesses who claim to have seen the new moon crescent has to be rejected.
    Scientific calculations can predict the birth of the new moon (conjunction) to within few seconds, the new moon crescent is visible many hours after the actual birth (around 17hrs or more). Science is not so accurate to to when the new moon crescent will be definitely visible because there are too many factors involved including visibility conditions.

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  2. Look at the moon tonight u will see a full half moon / Muniburrahman and co r the ones making separation. insisting on having two eids.. watch the perfect half moon today and watch the moon when it becomes full moon and watch in the last quarter, u will no who was wrong and who was right. u r going to get out of all prejudice and be serious, honest, devoted to want to know the truth. then u would know it and accept it .

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  3. The term 2 threads is not to be taken literally, which is quite clear from ahadith. It means the first thread of light of dawn which is separate from the rest of the night.

    The timings of the compulsory prayers are also based on the position of the sun. We use science (watches) to make it easy for us on a daily basis. But anyone can verify the salat time without using a watch, just by looking at the position of the sun.

    Islam is not against progress – we travel in aeroplanes and cars, and not on camels.

    However, when clear instructions are given about how to determine Eid, or salat time, we keep those as our primary tools. Science can help us approximate what are the chances of the moon being sighted, what time it would be sighted etc. But different scientists will give you different approximations.

    For example, this Ramadan, different newspapers and TV channels had different times for Iftar and Suhoor for Fiqh Ahnaaf. The difference was about a minute or two. Why this difference for such precise calculations?

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  4. “We can take two threads, one white and one black, as prescribed in the Holy Koran, and begin the fast when they both appear to be the same color.”

    in the subcontinent, black and white always have the same colour..that of money

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  5. Why do we use a watch or clock to start the fast and end it in Ramadhan? We can take two threads, one white and one black, as prescribed in the Holy Koran, and begin the fast when they both appear to be the same color. Even for timings of the five compulsory prayers, we use science. So why can’t we use science to determine the appearance of the moon? Finally, I think the government or the media should locate those people who saw the moon when it wasn’t there and have their eyesights checked. Probably most of them have defective eyes, or else they will admit they didn’t see it but said so just to please the mullahs or maybe they wanted to avoid fasting one more day.

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  6. Assalaamualaikum.

    Calculations are still not exact. Even if they were, the order is to observe Eid if you see the moon, otherwise after 30 days. We must understand the wisdom of moon sighting. Most people can agree on moon sighting, whether it was sighted or not. The same cannot be said for calculations, which most cannot understand. The idea is to have unity, and for everyone to observe Eid together. Hence, a committee to decide this is a good idea. However, if some people want to go their own way, then who can stop them (except the State)? This disunity in Eid is a sad indication of the disunity within Pakistan, and even within the Ummah. May Allah SWT guide us to join ranks. Ameen

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  7. I find it necessary to explain the issue a bit further, U say more than 50 years have passed with two EIDs every year in Pakistan. well if u watch the moon during tonight, on the 7th and night of the 14th u will clearly see who was right and who was wrong sorry, u would know who is false and who is true . According to the dishonest , today is the 2nd day of Eid, U watch the moon and the the moon will tell u otherwise . about the moon u need to understand that it is above all the borders and political entities, to the moon their r no distant between Makkah, Karachi, Tokyo and Santiago. The moon will be seen fuill moon from every corner in the world. no part of the world will see it 14th and others 15th.. they all see the same moon in the same age in the same night

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  8. Due to the fact that u r more Pakistani than Muslim; u see the top bottom and the bottom top. No false witnesses could be made available, for such a religious issue except from people that who prefer their Government policies over the Lord subhanahu watala. u for example, could certainly be a false witness in a situation like this.Had u considered Allah alone U would not write such a prejudice statement or made such an unjust judgment. \u need to know that we are ordered not to follow scientific calculations and to hold to the eye witness system. Allah knows why and how. yr believing so much in human sciences made u forget that we r slaves, we follow instructions and know that Allah knows better why we should only depend on the human eye in the moon sighting situation, The Lord does not have to tell u why, u should learn to obey the instructions and argue with the |Lords orders

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