LETTER TO EDITOR
22 July 2020
Crescent Controversy
The crescent controversy has once again erupted in the country and unfortunately this time it has pitched the science against the scripture. The clergy wants its supremacy over everything else, where as the Minister for Science and Technology maintains that science confirms, augments and serves the religious thought in a more conclusive manner. The science showed the moon on the horizon in its laboratories on the 21st July where as the Ruet-e Hilal Committee (RHC) saw it through the naked eyes of its witnesses across the country on the 22nd July, that is a day later. Who is to be believed or not is the question. I think there is a very simple way to find out who is correct – the clergy or the Minister. Let’s wait till the 14th of the moon, when its disc will be a perfect circle and decisively visible to all. If the 14th of the moon falls on the 3rd of August the Minister would be right and if it ! falls on the 4th of August then the Mufti Sahib. Further more, who so ever happens to be right should be entrusted as the final authority with the task of all future moon sightings in Pakistan. If it is the RHC, it should continue functioning as heretofore. But should the Minister happen to be right then the Meteorological department be given this responsibility and the RHC done away with.
The naked eye witnessing (ainee shahadat) was necessary when no optical aids were available, not even an ordinary pair of eye glasses. In the present day scenario if one has to sight the moon wearing spectacles, eye lenses and seeing through powerful telescopes, what forbids one seeing the new moon through laser scopes penetrating through the clouds and spotting the moon or with the help of scores of orbiting navigational satellites or with the arithmetical accuracy of astronomy ?!
Col. Syed Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
30 Westridge 1
Rawalpindi 46000
Pakistan
Tel: (051) 5158033
E.mail: jafri@rifiela.com
