Moon sighting for Eid: IHC seeks report from ministry on plea seeking swift announcement

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday sought a report from the Ministry of Religious Affairs on a petition urging a swift announcement of moon sighting for Eid.

A single bench of Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar on Wednesday heard a petition filed by a citizen, Abdullah Shafiq, who approached the court seeking directives for the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee to make an early announcement regarding the Shawwal moon sighting.

The petitioner moved the IHC seeking judicial intervention to ensure that the process of announcing the Shawwal moon sighting is carried out promptly.

During the hearing, Justice Dogar remarked that the announcement would only be made if the moon is sighted.

He added that first, testimonies of the moon sighting are gathered from all four provinces, then a meeting is held, and only after that, a decision is made, which naturally takes some time.

The judge further said that an announcement cannot be made without seeing the moon. Later, he directed the Religious Ministry to submit a report in this connection and deferred the proceedings.

In the petition, the petitioner stated that he is worried that the late announcement of moon sighting for Eid by Ruet-e-Hilal causes unnecessary offering of Taraveeh and disruption in Eid shopping. He sought direction for the timely announcement and regulation of markets for unaffected Eid shopping.

In his plea, Shafiq argued that people offer congregational Taraweeh prayers due to the delay in the announcement of the moon sighting. Further, he said the late announcement leads to a sudden rush in markets and commercial areas.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026