KARACHI – Zil-Hajj moon has been sighted in Pakistan whereas Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on August 22 (Wednesday).
The announcement was made after a meeting of the six-member committee of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee here on Sunday. The Committee met in Karachi this evening to sight the Zil-Hajj moon. Chairman of the Committee Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman presided over the meeting.
Zonal Ruet-e-Hilal Committees also held separate meetings to collect evidence of sighting of the moon.
Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Azha on the 10th of Zil-Hajj, the last month of Islamic calendar.
Eid-ul-Azha commemorates Prophet Ibraheem’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to Allah, before Allah replaced the son with a ram to be sacrificed instead.
The result is a booming pre-holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep. In Pakistan alone, nearly 10 million animals, worth more than $3 billion, are slaughtered during the two days of Eid-ul-Azha, according to the Pakistan Tanners’ Association (PTA).
Eid-ul-Azha marks the end of an annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, and should be undertaken by every Muslim who can afford to do so.
Saudi Arabia
Muslims in Saudi Arabia will celebrate Eid-ul-Azha on August 21 after the moon was sighted in the Kingdom on Saturday.
on August 10, The Supreme Court in Saudi Arabia asked Muslims to sight the crescent of the month of Zil- Hajj on Saturday evening.
The Supreme Court called on whoever sights the crescent by the naked eyes or through binoculars to report to the nearest court and register his testimony.