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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