Fawad Chaudhry launches 'Pakistan's first official' moonsighting website

[ghazi52]

Fawad Chaudhry launches 'Pakistan's first official' moonsighting website
May 26, 2019

A screengrab of Moon Sighting Pakistan, the website launched by Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday launched what he termed as Pakistan's "first official" moonsighting website and a calendar showing main Islamic dates and months for the next five years based on scientific evidence.

The website, pakmoonsighting.pk, has been launched by Chaudhry's ministry "to halt the moon sighting controversy" that rears its head in the country every year prior to religious festivals.

Named Moon Sighting Pakistan, the website features sections such as a monthly Hijri (Islamic) calendar for the next five years, a day-to-day lunar calendar against dates from the Gregorian calendar, and the dates on which the first day of every lunar month will fall.



Ch Fawad Hussain

✔@fawadchaudhry
MoonSighting Pakistan launched..... http://www.pakmoonsighting.pk/

6:37 AM - May 26, 2019

Also available are the scientifically determined dates for all major Islamic festivals/days for the ongoing and next years. Readers can access year-wise data about the New Crescent Moon, monthly moon visibility maps and monthly moon coordinates in major cities on the site as well.

Chaudhry had earlier this month announced that the lunar calendar being prepared by a scientific committee formed by the government and showing the exact dates of important Islamic occasions — Ramazan, Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha, Muharram — would be finalised by the 15th of Ramazan.

He had said that a mobile phone app was also under preparation by the scientific committee after which people would also be able to sight moon on their smartphones.

On May 3, the minister had formed a committee of five experts from the ministry of science and technology, Meteorological Department and the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) to determine moonsighting for key Islamic dates and months scientifically, putting an end to the practice of looking for it physically through telescopes.

The National Assembly was informed recently that an amount of Rs3.06 million was spent last year on the sighting of the crescent for Muharram, Ramazan, Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha.

 

[Hiraa]

Good initiative.

 

[IceCold]

Finally. The ruat-i-hilal committee needs to be sent packing.

 

[Syed1.]

Good... finally Pak is entering 21st century. Just 19 years too late.


Excellent initiative.

 

[AZ1]

Its good but i would like old moon sightining culture in Pakistan. Cant forget those moment when we used to go on roof to see the moon for eid.

And how this will stop two eid ?

 

[Kambojaric]

Nice! Reminds me of the Turkish Diyanet website. Great initiative.


https://namazvakitleri.diyanet.gov.tr/en-US/

 

[khail007]

Is it same Fawad Ch. which was information minister before?
I saw, people making fun of him as minster of science & technology, on all over the net, portraying him like Eien-Stine. Indeed some jokes were very funny.
Some people say he did not know even A, B, C of science, may be generally true but he proved his mettle. I don't know how many minister of science & technology were scientists or belongs to science since the birth of Pakistan but I know that none came up with such idea.
We are very good at making jokes of others but never so good in doing our own job with sincerity and hard-work. Short-cuts are of very importance in our day to day lives, be it in traffic, in education, in promotions, in businesses, in politics - in short becoming rich overnight.

 

[Pakistansdefender]

Finally. The ruat-i-hilal committee needs to be sent packing.

They are above law and mufti muneeb it seems wants to be the chairman till his life.
Shame on such molvis who divide.

 

[Wa Muhammada]

Secularism has become legitimate with this government....the role of the ulema and shariat is being marginalised....Naya Pakistan.

I guess they won’t need an alim to read their janaza when they die...just put a YouTube video on the screen

 

[Yaseen1]

When he is liberal he should not be concerned with moonsighting as it relates to Islamic matters .He should focus on nonreligious matters

 

[zeeshe100]

Great work

 

[IbnAbdullah]

Salaam

Because what the Government needs at this time is another pointless fued with the clergy? Why not wait for other bigger issues to come under control?

..

 

[Syed1.]

Secularism has become legitimate with this government....the role of the ulema and shariat is being marginalised with this govt....Naya Pakistan.

I guess they won’t need an alim to read their janaza when they die...just put a YouTube video on the screen

Why you using internet or electricity. Find a cave to live in and shun all modern technologies if you want to go back 1400 years.


Just like most mullahs you are another hypocrite.

 

[Peaceful Civilian]

Great initiative. We will also have moon application . We are little late in technology but I appreciate role of minister of science & technology in this at least he did it.
EID is on 5 June

 

[313ghazi]

Fazool admi, fazool website, fazool panga.

The sighting of the moon is a tradition, it is sunnah and there is clear consensus from across the world that the Islamic calendar month is 30 days unless the moon is sighted on 29 days. The act of sighting is a sunnah. You cannot replace that.

I'll give you another example, why do we pray jummah at the jamia masjid? So the leadership could address the community. The khutba was the key to this tradition. In the era of video link maybe we should just pray zuhr at home or the office and watch the khutba later on?

This is not a matter of science or technology, but a matter of theology.