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.
The chief kadhi has been given the mandate to announce the sighting of the moon for starting or completing the fast but how has he performed? Is he really working towards uniting all Muslims? Is his conscience clear when he sees Muslims divided so much while he is the symbol of their unity? Has he done his best to bring decsenting opinions on board? I am not here to apportion blame but fixing Eid public holidays weeks in advance and then sticking to the announced date is wrong. How does he know when the moon would be sighted? He can fix a public holiday in advance for
government planning purposes but he cannot fix the Eid date in advance. Let the public holiday be the 31st day after the start of Ramadhan regardless of whether Ramadhan ends with 29 or 30 days. If it ends with 29 and the moon has been sighted Eid can be celebrated on the 30th and the rest of the country can join in on the 31st with the public holiday. In any case Eid ul fitri is a 3day celebration.
We have only one moon in the entire world and sighting it in one part of the world is sufficient if it is ascertained properly. The chief kadhi needs to establish a working relationship with other leaders in other parts of the country and the world such that he personally confirms with them their claim and if they are trustworthy people he can rely on their testimony. He deosnt need to see the moon himself to declare the sighting of the moon. The claim that he does not take moon sighting testimonies from some parts of the country doesnot augur well for his image as a leader and for the unity of the Muslims in this country.
Those imams who declare Ramadhan and Eid on their own need to also understand that Islam has put Muslim unity at a premium which needs to be safeguarded even if it means making sacrifices. How far have you tried to liaise with the chief kadhi to resolve the issue? Did you not hear what Abdullahi Binu Omar said when he was asked why he accepted to pray behind Hajaj Ibnu Yussuf whose atrocities are well documented in history books while he was a governor under Abdul Malik Binu Marwan? He said I fear if I don't pray behind him and I start my own, some people would pray behind me while others would pray behind Hajaj and this would create cracks in the lines of Muslim unity. Are you more knowledgeable than Abdullahi Ibnu Omar or is the Chief Kadhi worse than Hajaj Ibnu Yussuf?
Eid has lost it's meaning because it did not look like real Eid on Thursday and it did not look like real Eid on Friday. For it be real Eid all of us must be on the same page. You can't be truly celebrating while your neighbor is fasting.
The ball is in your court chief kadhi and imams.
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