Egypt: Lessons learnt

No doubt Egypt is going through a tumultuous time. The military deposed a president who was elected by the majority in his first year in office. The callous manner of his removal angered his supporters who staged peaceful demonstrations for weeks demanding his restoration. The military used brutal force to disperse the protestors and thousands were killed and maimed. The country is now on the brink of a civil war and the carnage is still ongoing. For those of us watching from far, there are countless lessons in the events in Egypt;

Who is responsible for this division?

Eid Mubarak to you all. Muslims country wide observed Eid on Thursaday and others on Friday. Lack of consensus on the sighting of the moon has plagued Kenyan Muslims for many years. Yesterday an Egyptian imam in one of Nairobi mosques delivered a powerful jum' a sermon titled "ـ من يتحمل مسئو لية هذ ا لخلا ف" meaning who will be responsible for this division? He said he has never seen anything like this in his entire life where even in the same family people celebrate Eid at different times. The husband may be fasting while the wife is celebrating Eid or vice versa. The issue has been taken so lightly but the matter is a serious one and need not be swept under the carpet. If Thursday was the actual Eid, those who fasted on that day have committed a sin because fasting on Eid day is haram and if Eid was on Friday then those who celebrated it on Thursday have been eating on a fasting day which is a major sin. So th question that begs an answer is who will be responsible for these sins. Is it that we dont have leaders who can guide the people towards the same goal and purpose? how can the scholars and our leaders be comfortable while disunity among the muslims is the norm rather than the exception? are they united themselves? who really represents muslims in this country? Islam has greatly emphasized on unity. Unity is mercy while division is hell. In our case I think everyone is to blame for this mess but the leaders, the chief kadhi and imams who announce to us carry the greatest responsibility.