Ramadan Moon
By Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Westridge, Rawalpindi

According to the scientific astronomical evidence the first day of next Ramadan will fall on Thursday, 13 September 2007. At that time of the year the moon will be in the southern hemisphere, as such on the evening of Wednesday 12th September 2007 it will be seen mostly in southern areas of the world like Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, Cape Verde, Ascension Island and South American countries. So will it be in Indonesia, Malaysia and Maldives Islands. However, the people in the northern areas of the world like Central Asia and Europe (including northern parts of Pakistan) will have to rely once again on sightings obtained from the southern areas of the world, it could create the usual confusion of the moon being sighted or not sighted on the evening of Wednesday the 12th September 2007 in these regions.
However, if somehow, in this space age of inter-planetary exploration and most precise knowledge of the movements of the stars and planets computed by super computers, we could find ourselves for a while out of the hold of the Muftis and Ruet e Hilal committees and instead relied upon the Internet websites like www.moonsighting.com and www.icoproject.org, we could see for ourselves the very precise moments of the moon appearing and setting on the horizons of our respective local areas.
I would, therefore, very strongly urge the government to announce the Ruet in accordance with the scientific evidence available on the websites designed for the sighting of the moon/lunar calendars. And if it doesn’t have the courage to do away with the Ruet e Hilal Committees then at least include a computer-literate member equipped with a laptop and Internet connection to advise the Muftis of the actual realities.
Needless to say, that announcing Ruet by such faultless means will go a long way in unifying the nation.

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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