Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 28: After one-week, Grand Mufti, Nasir-ul-Islam, today overturned his decision on the sighting of Ramadan moon and announced that ‘Shab-e-Qadr’ will be observed on April 17.
Mufti created controversy after he said last Wednesday that the Ramadan moon has not been sighted in the region and had announced that the Holy month of Ramadan will begin from Friday. However, the majority of the people in Jammu and Kashmir started fasting from Thursday only instead of Friday.
The Grand Mufti claimed that he had not heard from any witnesses on the sighting of the Ramadan crescent on Wednesday night.
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Mufti overturned his decision after a lengthy meeting of religious scholars of Kashmir, including Masroor Abbas Ansari, Moulana Fayaz Ahmad Rizvi, Moulana Aga Syed Al Hassan Mousivi, Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, Maulana Nazir Ahmad Qasmi and Moulana Rahmatullah Qasmi, the Grand Mufti informed the media persons on the decisions taken by the gathering in the wake of confusion which was created due to the moon sighting when the Holy Month of Ramadan began on March 23.
“The Shab-e-Qadr will be observed on April 17. On April 20, a moon sighting will be conducted, and if the moon is seen, people would be required to observe a one-day Qaza fast following Eid,” he said.
The Qaza fasting would be for those who were not fasting on March 23, running one day short in the mandatory fasting from the majority.
Any decision on Eid, he claimed, would only be made public after extensive Ulema consultation. Before making any announcements, the MeT department would also be consulted, he added.
On the occasion, he also appealed for the release of other Ulema who are being held in prison, including Moulana Abdur Rashid Dawoodi and Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq.
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