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I deliberately delayed this article in order to have time of saying BARKA DA SALLAH to all Muslims Ummah irrespective of the day individual celebrates his/her Sallah. To me, having collective response to my greetings will signify uniformity and unity of purpose by the answering Muslims. It is a piety that while Muslims all over the world have passed the position of internal divisions and disunity over simple Calentation of sighting of crescent to identify and mark the beginning of a new Islamic Calendar month, in Nigeria the divisions and illusions deepens. The announcement that Sunday 7th December, 2008 as Eid day by His Eminence Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Sa’ad the sultan of Sokoto and the president general of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has been greeted with rages of dissatisfactions from different quarters of the Nigerian Muslim community. This came about after the day declared by the sultan coincided with the day also decl...Read the full article.

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as a member of the muslim ummah, i am particularly distressed by the actions / inactions of our religious leaders aka.NSCIA to futher polarize the system using religion as a tool. to the best of my knowledge the eid day & arafat day are never on the same day---to have the two on the same day is an aberration. i think it is time the muslim ummah comes up to speak as one in denouncing such acts aimed at ridiculing ISLAM-THE RELIGION OF PEACE.

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Hello we need to understand Islam be4 making pronouncements.It should be understood that Islam is a religion of ease and we have to know that our system of moon sighting is one of the best in the world.These type of situation during the time of the Prophet of Islam(PBUH) and he never said Madina people are wrong in sighting the moon earlier than Makkan People.It do happen and we should respect our leaders and that is why one cannot practice Islam effectively without knpowledge.May Allah accept our Ibadah and 4give u our mistakes.Barka da Sallah in arrears.

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Assalam alaykum(peace be to you all)

Thank you for bringing this issue to the fore because it affords one the opportuinity to vent all.
This is about the best time to address the issue of Sultanate and Muslim Ummah leadership in Nigeria and I have got many questions concerning this :
1. Who made the Sultan the head of Nigerian Muslims Ummah(Ummah means Community)
2. What are the criteria for choosing a sultan and how does it contrast with the criteria for choosing the head of a Muslim Ummah
3. Has these criteria always been strictly adhered to
4. If it is Muslim Ummah leadership must it be inheritable
6. Is Monarchy system Islamic and by extension should there be a Royal family in an Islamic system

Now to the issue of the day. I read that the Sultan passed his fatwa based on sound Islamic Jurispudence but the Sultan failed to give any reference. I have not read of any example of his action in any Islamic reference publications and I dare say that the first time it happened in Islamic world was in 1995 and that happened to be in Nigeria. A friend asked a very good question when he heard of this, had it been that the Sultan was on Arafat that day would he have return to Minna to offer his Sacrifice that day? The sultan should be informed that his last fatwa is alien to Islam and that the whole world is asking questions.

Come to the issue of moon sighting for Ramadhan, Why is it that the moon is always sighted in a village every year in the deepest part of Northern Nigeria?Why not in the main city of Kano, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Jos when all these area have a common Geography.
Come to think of it, more serious Muslim Nations seek this same crescent using powerful telescopic gadgets and yet had to base the commencement of their Ramadhan on the option of making Shaban up to 30 because the crescent could not be sighted, yet a villager in Kaura Namuda had sighted same with his old and fragile naked eyes.

Methink It is high time we separate POLITICS from RELIGION among Nigeria Muslims for the sake of our Unity and for the sake of our Peaceful Coexistence with Our Christian compatriots. It is high time our Northern Muslim brothers/sisters understand that Southerns Muslims have also gone far in their search of Islamic Knowledge and they should not be seen to be represented by Dr. Lateef Adegbite who occupies that position by virtue of his western education. South Western Muslims have produced the likes of Sheikh Adam Abdullahi Al Allory(RTA), Sheikh Kamaludeen Al Adabiyy(RTA), Sheikh Muhammad-l-Awwal(Baba Loshodi)(RTA), Sheikh Muhammad-Rabiu-Adebayo Abdul Malik(RTA), Sheikh Muritadho Busari(LASU,RTA), Sheikh Habeeb Adam Abdullahi Al allory(RTA), Sheikh Thaoban Adam Abdullahi Al Allory(RTA) and a host of others in the University system with Sound islamic Jurispudence knowledge.
Nigeria Muslims demands respect for all Nigerians
We demand Peaceful Coexistence with Our Christians and Traditionalist Compatriots.
And lastly we demand a purposeful leadership based on sound Islamic knowledge.
Maasalm

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Femi Abass's 'THE MESSAGE' column in The Nation (see copy beLow) succinctly captures the 2 sides of the coin as required of Islamic Scholarship.


Eidul Adha controversy 12/12/2008


FEMI ABBAS
It would have been unrealistic for ‘THE MESSAGE’ not to expect a barrage of reactions from Nigerian Muslims over the observation of Eidul-Adha in Northern Nigeria last Sunday.
Such reactions naturally started pouring in as soon as the announcement was made to the effect that Sunday (December 7, 2008) was Eidul-Adha day. The calls came from all parts of the country including the North, a further confirmation that this column is well read and an indication that readers believe in its contents.

Among those who called were Muslim clerics, Imams and Islamic scholars. Some of them wanted to know the informed position of ‘THE MESSAGE’. Some wanted to know the personal opinion of this columnist on the matter.

What was common to all the callers was their belief that the declared day was Arafah day. They also believe that observing Eidul-Adha in any part of the world that day could only amount to sacrilege. Their apprehension was manifest either in their voices or in their text and e-mail messages.

Some of them reminded this columnist that last Sunday’s Eidul Adha was the third of its type observed in Nigeria in the past 13 years. They argued that such queer act was peculiar to Northern Nigeria.

Some of them expressed puzzle on what implications that Fatwa might have had on this year’s Hajj.

As concerned Muslims, they all have a right to raise questions on such a controversial issue. What most of them do not know, however, is that Islam is like a University where all sorts of researches and intellectual exercises are carried out. Unless one is deeply informed, whatever sounds or looks contrary to the well known norms would be seen as an aberration.

For those who are well versed in Islamic knowledge, observing Eidul-Adha on Arafah day in some sections of the world would not be strange. Islam is a dynamic rather than a rigid religion. It encourages and accommodates such intellectual exercises, views and opinions for enhancement of knowledge about the religion in as much as such views and opinions do not contradict the well known fundamental norms of Islam. That is why four learned Imams are well known to Sunni Muslims just as there are in Shia sect.

The opinions of those Imams may sometimes be at variance with one another based on the individual’s understanding of the issue involved. Nevertheless, those differences do not usually affect the real tenets of the religion. That is why Muslims of any sect can ask for the Mosque anywhere and join the congregation in observing Salat without any enquiry about the sectarian status of the Imam of that Mosque. If differences of opinion of Imams about Islam are so fundamental, performance of Hajj in such a large congregation would have been very difficult if not impossible.

The controversy over observation of Eidul-Adha on Arafah day is not new. Neither is it peculiar to Nigeria. As a matter of fact, this issue has been perennially debated at international conferences for scores of years.

The real genesis of controversy about any Eid whether Fitr or Adha is the sighting of the crescent. That is one issue that has remained unresolved for centuries.

With the differences over the sighting of crescent at the commencement of the last Ramadan, it was clear that a similar controversy would ensue during Eidul Adha.



For the North to have issued the Fatwa which named last Sunday Eidul-Adha, certain steps had long been taken which were not contradictory to Islam. For instance a Fatwa Committee had been set up in 2001 to sit from time to time and deliberate scholarly on crescent sighting so that Nigerian Muslim Ummah could be rightly guided. The members of that Committee are people well lettered Islamically and whose integrity is never in doubt. It is the responsibility of this Committee to advise the leadership of the Ummah, ably represented by the Sultan, on various Islamic matters including the sighting of the crescent. Thus, when a Fatwa is announced concerning the sighting of the crescent in Nigeria, it is not by anybody’s whim but based on the findings and advice of the Committee.

As a result of the various researches carried out by that Committee, certain conclusions were reached one of which, incidentally, led to a clash between Arafah day and Eidul-Adha this year.

Some of those conclusions are as follows:

1. "That there is no direct link between observing the Arafat Day and the observance of the Id-al-Adha or Greater Bairam Festival. In fact, the observance of the Adha was instituted in the second year of the Hijrah while Hajj was instituted in the 9th year, a gap of seven years during which Id-al-Adha was observed without any reference to Arafat.

2. The Committee also noted that there are no directives from the Prophet (SAW) linking the Id-al-Adha with the observance of Arafat. The only relationship between the two is that Arafat is observed on the 9th day of Dhul Hijjah according to Makkan time and Id-al-Adha is observed on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah according to the local date of the month in any given country.

Thus for people who happen to be in Saudi Arabia they must observe Arafat on the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah according to the date in Saudi Arabia. However, for the rest of the world, Muslim must observe Id-al-Adha on the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah according to their local time. Accordingly, since the month of Dhul-Hijjah began here in Nigeria on Friday 28th November, 2008, our Id-al-Adha day must be observed on Sunday, 7th December, 2008.

3. There is a consensus of opinion among the members of the Committee that the only legally acceptable way of determining the beginning and ending of any lunar month is through physical sighting of the crescent. They explained that all Islamic rituals and observances which are related to given dates are determined through physical sighting of the crescent without any reference to astronomical calculations.... This guidance from the Prophet of Islam (SAW) is what should guide all Muslims, and it is the consensus of almost all earlier generations of Muslim scholars.

a. It was also observed that three out of the four founders of the Orthodox schools of Jurisprudence, namely Imams Abu Hanifa, Malik b. Anas and Ahmad b. Hanbal agreed that the beginning and ending of Islamic lunar months are to be determined only by physical sighting according to various Hadiths of the Holy Prophet (SAW) who said: "Fast when you see it (the new month) and end your fast when you see it (a new moon). However, if it is concealed or covered from you, then complete it 30 days)".

b. Here at home in Nigeria, Shaykh Abdullahi b. Fodiyo, the younger brother of Shaykh Uthman b. Fodiyo and one of the greatest jurists in Africa, has said in his well-known and highly regarded Tafsir (Commentary on the Holy Qur’an) Diya al-Ta’wil, that is not permitted to use any scientific or astronomical calculation as a basis for determining the beginning or end of an Islamic month. Like other great scholars before him, he also said that only physical sighting of the crescent is acceptable to the Shari’ah in accordance with the Hadith of the Holy Prophet of Islam (SAW).

Going by the criteria set by Islam, which have always guided this Committee, it is worthy to note that:

i. Ramadan started on Sunday 31st August and ended Sunday 28th September, 2008 (29 days).

ii. Shawwal started on Monday 29th September and ended on Tuesday 28th of October, 2008 (30 days).

iii. Dhul Qadah started on Wednesday 29th October and ended on Thursday 27th November, 2008 (30 days).

iv. Dhul Hijjah started on Friday 28th November and Sunday, 7th December, will thus be the 10th day, which must, therefore, be observed as the Id-al-Adha (Greater Bairam) day.

It is thus clear that all Muslims in Nigeria and our neighbours who choose to follow Nigeria in respect of sighting the moon must observe Id-al-Adha on Sunday 7th December, 2008 the day our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia are reportedly going to observe Arafat. There is nothing strange about this, since, as earlier observed, there is no direct guidance from the Prophet (SAW) or any recognised authority, linking Arafat in Saudi Arabia and Id-al-Adha anywhere in the world".

The above quoted opinion is supported by some facts presented at an international conference thus:

"The contemporary scholars who implicitly disconnect Eid al-Adha from Hajj rituals and connect it directly to the local Moon sighting argue that al-Adha, like Eid al-Fitr, was instituted by the Prophet (PBUH) independently of Hajj institution. The Prophet initiated the two Eids after observing inhabitants of Madinah celebrate their two local festivals. He (PBUH) instead institutionalised the two Eids as alternate Islamic festivals.

"The initiation of these two important institutions of Islam at two different timings, in view of the first group, illuminates the fact that the two Islamic institutions are not intertwined. They are separate entities.

"The Prophet (PBUH) connected Eid al-Fitr with completion of the month of Ramadan i.e., the first day of Shawwal, while Eid al-Adha was connected with the 10th of Zil-Hajjah. There is no report that the Prophet (PBUH) ever tried to find out the day of Hajj or Arafah during his stay in Madinah in an effort to make Eid al-Adha coincide with day of Arafah or Hajj. The Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have regularly slaughtered the sacrificial animals during his ten year’s stay in Madinah, as Tirmidhi reports:

"Even after the Hajj was made obligatory, Eid al-Adha remained the same independent institution. There is no report that the Prophet (PBUH) made any conscious effort to find out the Day of Arafah or to correlate Eid al-Adha with the Day of Hajj or 10th of Zil-Hajjah in Makkah. Had it been a significant religious issue to link the Adha with Hajj then the Prophet (PBUH) would have made efforts to search for the Day of Arafah in Makkah. Instead he went with the local sighting of Madinah.

Now, the arguments above can be regarded as only one side of a coin.

There is another side since every coin has two sides.

The other side which the Fatwa group over-sighted in their analysis and conclusion was equally addressed at the same international conference. All these facts are contained in a well researched paper presented by a renowned Islamic scholar Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah whose e-mail address is: Zulfiqalis@aol.com.

Some of those facts can be quoted as follows:

"Imam Ibn Taymiyyah makes a significant observation that the sacrifice of Hujjaj in Mina is the foundational principle to be followed by non-Hujjaj Muslims all over the world. That is why the Day of Sacrifice in Mina is termed by the Qur’an as the bigger Eid and the Hajj al-Akbar because it combines the sacred Eid time with the sacred place….

"The famous Hanbali Jurist Hafiz Ibn Rajab explains the relationship of Eid al-Adha prayer with the movement of Hujjaj from Muzdalifah to Mina. He reports that this is the position of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal that the common Muslims are to follow the movements of Hujjaj in Makka and do the Eid prayer within the time frame when the Hujjaj are throwing pebbles at Mina.

"Imam al-Bhaghawi states that the Muslims all over the globe are to follow the timings of Hujjaj in the Takbeerat of Tashreeq. This is the position of Ibn Abbas, Malik and Shafa’ee.

I have brought these multiple quotes from authoritative Hanafi, Shafa’ee, Maliki and Hanbali sources to make the point that these juristic authorities are united in their understanding that the Eid al-Adha rituals such as the Eid Prayer, act of sacrificing the animals and even the Takbeerat of al-Tashreeq are in subordination to the acts of Hujjaj. Therefore, the claim that the Eid al-Adha is an absolutely independent Islamic institution totally disconnected and detached from Hajj and fully self-regulating by all means is far from the truth. It seems altogether otherwise. The Eid al-Adha is conventionally attached with the institution of Hajj. It is precisely the imitation and reminiscence of some of the acts of the final Pillar of Islam called Hajj. It is as much connected with the sacred place as with the sacred time. Ibn Taymiyyah has long ago observed this subtle link.

"There can not be any doubt that the enhanced reward in these days is connected with the international gathering of Muslims on Hajj. The Hajj culminates in the Day of Eid. That is why Muslims all over the globe are asked to participate in it so that they might get the reward of such a big Muslim gathering and share their supplications. Fasting on the Day of Arafah is also connected with the Wuquf of Arafah.

"Imam Muhammad bin Hasan al-Shaybani, the renowned student of Imam Abu Hanafi, states that the Imam’s decision is carried out even if the person saw the new Moon with his own eyes and the 9th of Zil-Hajja according to the actual sighting was different than the day of Arafah announced by the leader

"Imam Ibn Taymiyyah narrates that there is no difference of opinion among the jurists that the month of Eid al-Adha should be observed in unity. No jurist has ever allowed that those who sighted the Moon should go by their sighting and celebrate the Day of Arafah according to the actual sighting or slaughter the animals according to their actual sighting. They must go with the majority of Muslims.

The controversy over this matter is endless. But it should be blamed on Saudi Arabia which has failed to provide the necessary leadership as expected of her.

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Thanks to Femi Abass for this balanced and well researched contribution to this controversy. The opinion of Scholars expressed raised some questions though:
Why should anyone be taken seriously if he precludes the use of technological advancement to aid our religious practice. Insistence on physical sighting of the crescent could be likened to insistence on riding a camel to hajj as practiced in the days of the Holy Prophet(SAW). This potrays Islam as rather not dynamic as opposed to Femi Abass's assertion.
The other question is assuming the opinion on eid-adha was right, considering the noises the last 2 of such caused in the country, would it not have been the right thing for the Sultanate to consider the UNITY of the UMMAH in Nigeria before passing such a DEVISIVE FATWA.

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If the Saudi announcement of Arafat day was the basis for questioning the Sultan’s Eid decision, then henceforth Nigerian Muslims should simply await Saudi announcement of Arafat before celebrating Eid, thus completely dispensing with announcements from the Sokoto sultanate.

Many of us non-Muslims are amused as Muslims habitually ridicule themselves over moon-sighting, which no doubt emanated from the pre-Islamic Arab pagan moon-worship.

Mohammed said; “You will see your lord as you see this moon”. – Sahih Bukhari 6:60:374.

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=Ahmad Salisu;299395>...slaughter is offered sacrifice on the Sultan’s declared day, if It turns to be the Arafat day preceding the actual Sallah day. His sacrifices could be termed to have being made prior to the stipulated time. Thereby rendering the made sacrifice void.

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So sacrifice or fasting on the wrong day, and praying at wrong hour is null and void in your over-regulated bogus alien dogma, where Muslims are overly preoccupied with Halal and Haram.

Apparently Allah keeps very strict business hours for prayers, sacrifices and fasting.
Outside the specified hours / days the supposedly omnipresent Allah is unavailable in his celestial office to attend to humanity.

Contrast that to we traditionalists, where our creator and deified ancestors are always available to attend their earthly children. There are no strict regulations as to when we can offer sacrifice or pray to our creator…He’s always there for us.

I suppose it also has to do with the Islamic doctrine that Muslims are not children of God, but slaves of Allah. Slaves have very limited access to their slavemaster – Allah who has laid down numerous strict absurd rules (Haram & Halal) for the slaves (Muslims) to comply.
We children of God have virtually unlimited interaction with our creator father; and freer to use our common sense and initiatives rather comply with excessive nonsensical regulations.

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=Tunde meee;299395>Is Monarchy system Islamic and by extension should there be a Royal family in an Islamic system ?

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Ask the Saudis. And the Shias who seem to believe in descendants of your “prophet” Mohammed.

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=Tunde meee;299395>We demand Peaceful Coexistence with Our Christians and Traditionalist Compatriots

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Unfortunately there's no Islamic basis for your lofty demand, hence Muslims are loggerhead with the rest of humanity - Christians in the West, Bhuddhists in southern Thailand, Hindus in India, Jews in Palestine, Catholics in Phillipines.
Islam prescribes hostility and war against non-Muslims:

When the sacred months are over kill the unbelievers wherever you find them – Quran 9:5

Believers, make war on infidels (non-Muslims) who dwell around you – Quran 9:123

Fight against people of the book (Christians & Jews) that do not believe in Allah and the last day – Q 9:29

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Thank God that the title of this piece is about muslim unity especially in Nigeria. Indeed the Quran informs its reader that Muslims are one Ummah and at the extension of one of the verses, in the same chapter Allah says that those He considers righteous are those who fear Him.

Nigerians should start to fear God and to do less politicking with religion. It is this behaviour of politicising religion that makes people question the validity of these religions. In their pure forms the two religions of Christianity and Islam offer solutions and guidance to mankind. But human beings strive to pollute the purity by dragging these lofty ideals into the murky waters of politics.

The piece by Femi Abass is nothing but a white wash and a clever deception; deception in the sense that it tried to hide under some unfounded and general issues so as to make the declaration of Eid on Arafat day a normal thing.

Firstly let him tell us another country in the world that celebrated Eid on the 7th of December (9th Dhul Hijjah).
He quoted scholars etc. Let him tell us those countries where we have a large number of these scholars and the day in which they celebrated Eid.

The appropriate way to view his PR piece is that since some parts of Nigeria claimed to sight the moon for Ramadan earlier than the rest of the world, it will amount to addmission of error if they reverse themselves and accept what was generally declared the day of Eid. So it is a face saving FATWA.

Whether Abass likes it or not, the moon is sighted for the commencement of a month and not on the 7th, 8th or 9th. Was there any indication to other muslims when the moon was sighted so as to make representations to other muslims? Or is our Islam different in Nigeria. When was the moon sighted? When was the FATWA declared? How many days interval or notice before the 8th of December.

Arafat is a day marked by and observed by all the muslims of the world and once it is agreed and announced by the authorities charged with such announcement i wonder why any country will want to behave differently. Perhaps to cause confusion and divisions within the Ummah.

It is unfortunate.

It is also true that a meeting of some muslim countries took place two years ago where issues relating to the muslim calendar was discussed with inputs from scientists etc. A calendar was issued for 1418 and 1419 and i am happy to observe that there was overwhelming conformity with this calendar in Saudi, London, America and other countries except for Nigeria.

You may wish to educate yourself , Mr. Abbas by logging unto http://moonsighting.com/morocco-meeting.html. The site provides information about the Morroco meetings of oct 2006 and oct 2008 aimed at setting Global Islamic Calendar. This is the age of knowledge and wisdom and informed muslims have taken steps which a tiny part of a section of our country is clearly opposed to.

Mallam Femi Abbas i have a piece of information for you. Most residents who reside in the north and who confirmed that the day declared was Arafat day did not slaughter their rams on that day. They joined the rest of the world the following day. It is clearly a leadership gaffe.

The lesson is that we should learn to accept when we are wrong and not go ahead in the same direction of error or omission.

Your lecture about the relationship between the Eid and Arafat day holds no water.
It has been the custom for centuries and it is amazing that you are propounding some terrible theories just to ratify what is clearly a DECISION THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD and attempting to make the exception to appear to be the rule.

I rest my case.


taslim

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=Bamaguje;299847>If the Saudi announcement of Arafat day was the basis for questioning the Sultan’s Eid decision, then henceforth Nigerian Muslims should simply await Saudi announcement of Arafat before celebrating Eid, thus completely dispensing with announcements from the Sokoto sultanate.

Many of us non-Muslims are amused as Muslims habitually ridicule themselves over moon-sighting, which no doubt emanated from the pre-Islamic Arab pagan moon-worship.

Mohammed said; “You will see your lord as you see this moon”. – Sahih Bukhari 6:60:374.



So sacrifice or fasting on the wrong day, and praying at wrong hour is null and void in your over-regulated bogus alien dogma, where Muslims are overly preoccupied with Halal and Haram.

Apparently Allah keeps very strict business hours for prayers, sacrifices and fasting.
Outside the specified hours / days the supposedly omnipresent Allah is unavailable in his celestial office to attend to humanity.

Contrast that to we traditionalists, where our creator and deified ancestors are always available to attend their earthly children. There are no strict regulations as to when we can offer sacrifice or pray to our creator…He’s always there for us.

I suppose it also has to do with the Islamic doctrine that Muslims are not children of God, but slaves of Allah. Slaves have very limited access to their slavemaster – Allah who has laid down numerous strict absurd rules (Haram & Halal) for the slaves (Muslims) to comply.
We children of God have virtually unlimited interaction with our creator father; and freer to use our common sense and initiatives rather comply with excessive nonsensical regulations.



Ask the Saudis. And the Shias who seem to believe in descendants of your “prophet” Mohammed.


Unfortunately there's no Islamic basis for your lofty demand, hence Muslims are loggerhead with the rest of humanity - Christians in the West, Bhuddhists in southern Thailand, Hindus in India, Jews in Palestine, Catholics in Phillipines.
Islam prescribes hostility and war against non-Muslims:

When the sacred months are over kill the unbelievers wherever you find them – Quran 9:5

Believers, make war on infidels (non-Muslims) who dwell around you – Quran 9:123

Fight against people of the book (Christians & Jews) that do not believe in Allah and the last day – Q 9:29

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You will not be dignified with a reply because it will derail the thread. I have an advice for you though, try and quote your verses in context so as not to be guilty of deliberate mislead.

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=Tunde meee;299755>Thanks to Femi Abass for this balanced and well researched contribution to this controversy. The opinion of Scholars expressed raised some questions though:
Why should anyone be taken seriously if he precludes the use of technological advancement to aid our religious practice. Insistence on physical sighting of the crescent could be likened to insistence on riding a camel to hajj as practiced in the days of the Holy Prophet(SAW). This potrays Islam as rather not dynamic as opposed to Femi Abass's assertion.
The other question is assuming the opinion on eid-adha was right, considering the noises the last 2 of such caused in the country, would it not have been the right thing for the Sultanate to consider the UNITY of the UMMAH in Nigeria before passing such a DEVISIVE FATWA.

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Tunde,

I think the point in Islam is not always on accuracy by technology or science but rather evidence by testification of a just person on a large opinion poll in the testifier's territory.

This means that science is just a means just as physical sighting of the moon which may all come with errors. So it is said that a just person by the standard provision of a community who is not known to be a liar is more reliable than a science that is in the hands of a person that is known to be given to lying often.

Also act of Ibadah in Islam do not rely most on accuracy of dates or time but rather the good intention of the person who performs the ritual on a sound juristic deduction. This is why we say Islam for long has appriciated the theory of relativity expounded by Albert Eisntein which subjected the dates and time to just concepts and sign posts put by men as meters, measures. A part from such they do not mean anything again.

This is why there is the consensus that a country or region can use its timing regardless of what other country or region does as there is regional and cultural autonomy in Islam right from time. Nothing Arab has to be imposed on other locations or cultures!

On the issue of Muslim Unity, I think we have to understand that this unity is not in dress code and how or when we celebrate events across the globe. It has never been seen as such since the dawn of Islam. The unity is in identifying with the timings and ways of the region one find themselves in since they are nothing but just timings and many ways of doing things.

The unity can also be understood in the things a Muslim is enjoined to protect for other Muslim of their kind. That is their dignity, their life, their wealth.

So perharps we should begin to talk to those countries with dicriminatory laws against foreigners even though Muslims; those countries who donate air spaces for military attack on other Muslims and many other things on which we are found wanting.

But unity is not found in slaughtering sacrificial rams on the same day, dressing in the same type of clothes or celebrating Eid on the same date which is akin to celebrating weddings.


Khalilurrahman