Kudos to ISNA
By Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed President Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Louisville, KY

It is heartening to read the following ISNA announcement with regard to the celebration of Eid ul Adha 1425 (January 2005) in North America: "ISNA is pleased to announce that Eid ul Adha will be on Friday, January 21, 2005. The Hajj Authority in Mecca as well as the Moon Sighting Committee in North America have both announced that Wednesday 12 January 2005 is the beginning of Zul Hijjah, and Friday 21 January 2005 will be Eid ul Adha (Eid of Sacrifice) with Muslims around the world celebrating the day of Eid in solidarity.

"We pray Allah will accept and bless the Hajjis (pilgrims) as they fulfill this most beautiful religious obligation, joining together with millions of other Muslims to worship Allah, The One Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of us all. We pray for those who have perished in the recent tsunami, and for the many people who are suffering around the world. We encourage everyone to donate generously to the tsunami relief efforts to help the survivors rebuild their lives and their communities. We encourage every Muslim to pray for and to make great efforts to bring peace and justice as well as relief from suffering for all of humanity. Eid Mubarak."

Surprisingly on January 14, 2005 (Friday), the Hajj Authority of the Saudi Government announced a change in their earlier statement, saying that according to Ummul Qurră calendar, the standing at Arafat will be on January 19 (Wednesday) and Eid ul Adha would follow on January 20 (Thursday) . Hence some of the Islamic centers in the US and Canada also changed the Eid ul Adha date from January 21, 2005 to January 20, 2005. In their second announcement ISNA stated, " Moon sighting on January 10 was astronomically ruled out in Saudi Arabia. The new moon was born at 12:03 Universal Time on January 10 and was only 3 hours old in Saudi Arabia. It set three minutes before the sunset. Therefore, sightability on January 10 was totally impossible.

"ISNA stands by its earlier decision that Eid ul Adha in North America will, Insha'Allah, be on Friday, January 21, as announced earlier." For the past two years ISNA has been celebrating Eid ul Adha the next day after standing at Arafat. This is the first time ISNA has changed its own policy. I would like to congratulate them on taking this firm stand, because all of us in North America should celebrate Eid ul Adha on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah, regardless of when the pilgrims celebrate the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia. It is not necessary to follow Saudi Arabia. A few years ago, a Saudi alim asked Muslims in N. America NOT to celebrate Eid on the day after Arafah. Shaikh Mohammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaimeen told Muslims that the correct date of Eid al-Adha in N. America will be the 10th Zul-Hijjah of North America, and not the day-after Arafah in Makkah, as ISNA and others claim.

When asked, "Should we abide by the local sighting in determining the Eid-al-Adha or should we follow the pilgrims' schedule, knowing that North America sighting of crescent may come a day before Saudi Arabia's sighting? " he answered, "You should abide by the city you're living in." To another question if this means "that we will fast on the 9th day of Zul-Hijjah of North America and pray Eid on the 10th day Zul-Hijjah of North America?" the learned Shaikh replied, "Yes, and this is what you should do without any (Haraj) or mental anxiety."

The Saudi Government never says that other countries should follow them. Another supposedly challenging question is often presented: how come Hajj takes place one day and Eid-ul-Adha will not be on the following day? Only those people will ask this question who are unaware of the fact that Eid-ul-Adha used to take place on the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah even before Hajj. So how can Eid-ul-Adha be dependent on Hajj? All Fuqaha and Ulema are in agreement on this, including the prominent Saudi Alim Sheikh Mohammad Ibn Salih Al Uthaimeen, who, when presented with the conclusive scientific proof that Hajj was held on the wrong day, advised Muslims in the USA not to celebrate Eid-Ul-Adha on the following day (i.e. day after standing at Arafat) but a day later on the true 10th of Dhul' Hijjah.

Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, India and Indonesia are home to more than half of all the Muslims in the world. How do they celebrate Eid ul Adha? They celebrate it on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah according hilal sighting in their respective countries. According to Islamic Voice of January 2001, "There is panic and commotion all over the world in our community each time we go for the moon-sighting. The biggest problem is created by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries since they depend on a phantom Hilal rather than physical sighting of the Hilal that is Fard e Kifaya. Saudis often announce moon-sighting even before the birth of the new moon." This year no country sighted the crescent on January 10, 2005. Hence the correct date for the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah is Friday, January 21, 2005 all over the world. E-Mail: President@IRFI.ORG

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