ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony on Wednesday removed Mufti Muneebur Rehman from the post of chairman of Ruet-i-Hilal Committee and replaced him with Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, Khateeb of Badshahi Masjid, Lahore. The ministry also notified new members of the committee, which include 14 clerics and religious scholars belonging to the four mainstream schools of thought in the country, namely Brelvi, Deobandi, Shia and Ahle Hadis. The committee also includes four officers of grade 20, one each from Suparco, Met Office, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Religious Affairs.
The clerics and religious scholars in the committee are: Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi, Allama Mohammad Hussain Akbar, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahim, Dr Yaseen Zafar, Mufti Mohammad Iqbal Chishti, Dr Mufti Ali Asghar, Mufti Faisal Ahmed, Syed Ali Karar Naqvi, Mufti Yousaf Kashmiri, Hafiz Abdul Ghafoor, Mufti Fazal-i-Jamil Rizvi, Mufti Qari Mirullah, Sahibzada Syed Habibullah Chishti and Mufti Zameer Sajid.
He is replaced by Badshahi Masjid Khateeb; 15 new members of body also notified
However, there is no structured law regarding Ruet-i-Hilal Committee and the current set-up has been functioning under the Ministry of Religious Affairs as per a resolution passed by the National Assembly in 1974.
Respective governments have been striving to formulate laws and rules to administer the committee for the past decade.
Mufti Muneeb was the longest-serving chairman of the committee. He was appointed to the post at the end of 1997 for two years. However, he was reappointed the committee chairman in 2000 under the Musharraf regime, and re-notified in 2012 by the PPP government.Traditionally the head of Ruet-i-Hilal Committee is appointed for two years, but due to Mufti Muneeb’s continued retention of the office, which offers perks and privileges equivalent to those of a federal minister, he attracted opposition from clerics. Source: dawn.com
Saturday, April 25, 2026
