Whither Pakistan? The Presidential 'Election' and Beyond

MOON-SIGHTING

Naqshbandi, teshah, mfrajel:

I hope the following will address concerns of all of you

Lately, I have been thinking that we (I am referring to Muslims only) are un-necessarily making a big deal out of the issue of moon-sighting and that of having multiple Eids. If we look a little deep into the matter, it in fact works out very well in favor of Muslim community everywhere.

Consider this: There are three possible ways, which are currently in practice to moon-sighting in order to celebrate Eid, and Ramadan etc., which are as follows:

1. Moon-sighting locally:

This is a unanimously accepted universal way of moon-sighting among Muslims. There are no two opinions about this method. This method has been authenticated by both Qura'n and Hadith. The deviation from this method becomes inevitable if the moon could not be sighted locally, due to weather, part of hemisphere where that locality is located, or any other reason. In that case one of the two following two methods is used.

2. Moon-sighting via calculations;

This method is also authenticated by at least one hadith. According to this Hadith, a group of people, presumably learned ones of Bani Israel, approached Holy Prophet (pbuh) and asked him about the way they (Muslims) would start Ramadan or Eid. They inquired whether Muslims used calculations or depended upon the moon-sighting. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) replied in these words "we are illiterate people, so we just see the moon with our eyes (and start eid or Ramadan)". According to this Hadith it is quite clear that that the permissibility of calculations was not in question, but the ability to do the calculations was in question.

3. Following Saudi Lunar Calendar:

This method is also authenticated by Ahadith. This method can be used where moon-sighting could not be done locally, and also reliable calculated method is not available. This method was typically adopted by the early expatriates from Muslim world who migrated to West and farther in Northern hemisphere where days and nights are unusually long or short. Saudis themselves maintain a Lunar calendar for all government and business affairs which is based on calculations. Hence any day in any year in any century is predictable just as Gregorian calendar. The authentication of this method comes from this hadith: This hadith tells us that Holy prophet (pbuh) allowed us the testimony of two people of good character who traveled from as far as a distance that would be covered by a camel in an over night journey. Holy Prophet (pbuh) even said that if the testimony came later in the day up until Zuhr (noon), when people were fasting, they should break their fast and celebrate eid. So a simple ijtehaad will allow us to extend this situation, given the modern day means of transport and communication to include a wider area. However, there are also limitations to this method. For example, on a given day moon passes over Earth forming a "belt of visibility' over a certain area, depending on the time-zone. This belt is geographically well defined. So Pakistan and Afghanistan, though are adjacent countries, might fall into two different "belt zones", hence they might have two different sighting zones.

As one can see all three methods are authentic "Sunnah" of Holy Prophet (pbuh); It is the will of Allah to maintain every aspect of the Sunnah alive till the End of the Days come. It is just like some people pray while clasping their arms, and some don't, because Holy prophet (pbuh) has prayed in both ways. Some of us follow one way and the other the other way. As a Muslim our duty is to educate fellow Muslims so that they could be more tolerant of the ways of their fellow brethren.

Another challenge to the religious leader is when they cannot confirm a Eid day, how are they sure that it is Allah who is THE GOD and mohammed is his prophet? How can they claim other religion to be misleading when they cant even agree on this simple matter.

Re: # 70

This is a good example of freedom in Islam. Why cant we take it in that angle. If a muslim believes friday is Eid, but lets say its on saturday, then this is fine as that muslim "beleived" Eid to be on friday and so he is not wrong in fasting on saturday. Religion is all about belief and thats how everybody is evaluvated on judgement day on whether he is true to his belief.

Re: # 69

Naqsh

You say:

"about the different eids--i don't see the big deal. Difference of opinion is a mercy for this ummah."

But what about this:

"The problem here is not with an obsession with synchronicity but the belief that fasting on Eid day is a cardinal sin. Three Eids this year have ended up making sinners of us all as in every past year, maybe cancelling our accumulated piety in the month of Ramadan."

There is an authentic Hadees that only Iblees fasts on the day of Eid. So what do you say about those who fast on the day of Eid?

Is not Mufti Muneeb lying when he says, "Shawwal ka chand kahein nahein dekha geya" when half the Muslim world is celebrating Eid."

Who are the Iblees then?

about the different eids--i don't see the big deal. Difference of opinion is a mercy for this ummah.

Arjun,

Re:#50

(here's the real story behind the 300 surrender monkeys..they didn't "refuse" to fight their fellow muslims...the surrender monkeys surrendered without firing a shot.)

Most likely it was not a case of surrender. It was a simple case of defection/mutiny. Which probably is worse.

Regards

#63 Posted by Naqshbandi,

Perhaps true but they've never attacked a sufi shrine so far. Wouldn't be a bad idea though :)

#58 Posted by Naqshbandi,

It was formally announced by the NS secretariat in London a few days ago.

Re: # 64
Naqsh Mian you seem to have deliberately overlooked the query made in my post at serial #41. May I know the reason for disappointing me?

Meanwhile kindly let us have your learned comments on an editorial of Daily Times of 14.10.07 reproduced hereunder:

"Drat, three Eids again!

As yet another example of our Islamic “literalism”, we have observed three Eids this year again. Pakistan’s top cleric, the sombre-faced Mufti Munibur Rehman – his name actually means “warner” – first criticised the Saudi authorities for deciding the Eid day without any rules, then declared Eid in Pakistan on Sunday (today). The Saudis announced their Eid on Friday, which led to some Saudi-influenced mosques in London to declare it in unison, and some not so influenced declared it for Saturday. This year Mufti Munibur Rehman was lucky not to have fallen victim to the wrath of his fellow-priests. Some years ago, when he insisted too much on the “rules of sighting”, some ulema from the NWFP had roughed him up!

Muslim scientists have claimed again and again that they can give a mathematically perfect date of appearance of the Shawwal moon many years in advance. They have said that Muslim calendars can actually lay down the Eid days accurately. But no one listens to them: the rule is to see the moon with the bare eye. It is possible that Saudi Arabia has adopted the scientific method without admitting it. But Pakistan uses the weather bureau watch-points for the purpose. Did Pakistan arrive at a consensual Eid? No. After the Saudi announcement, many parts of the NWFP declared Eid on Friday. Some areas settled for Saturday while the rest of the country observed Eid on Sunday. The problem here is not with an obsession with synchronicity but the belief that fasting on Eid day is a cardinal sin. Three Eids this year have ended up making sinners of us all as in every past year, maybe cancelling our accumulated piety in the month of Ramadan."

(Ed 2, Daily Times, 14.10.07.)

khayr mubarak!

Re: # 62

because the Wahabis consider the Sufis (and "Barelvis") as mushriks and are well known for their hatred of Sufi dargahs.
That's why!

I hope it wasn't them though.

Re: # 59 Naqsbhandi,

Why would Wahabis bomb Ajmer? It could have been Phatan Tribal Thinking in Pakistan where they carried out bombing at Nishtar Park but somehow, elements operating in India are 'muslims' and not divided into sects ( that happens when a certain group is in minority ).
btw, I am a direct relative of Sheikh Salim Chishti of Fatehpur Sikri , India where not just muslims of all sects come down but non-muslims comes down to put chadards and duas . I am a Wahabi Convert but respect the Sufi Tradition.
Regards and Eid Mubarak

I say give me Baba Bulle Shah any day over these converters like Ganj Bakshs, Moinuddins etcetera...Baba Bulle Shah saw the goodness in people and unity of humanity and warned against the perfidy of religious bigots...the other so called Sufis just played the numbers game...only gullible idiots like Hindus could be suckered into the shenanigans of these 'godly' men

wow, 90 lakhs kafirs to Islam...amazing feat really...by all accounts, Mr. Chishti seems to have lived in India for around 50 years at a liberal estimate...this translates into 438,000 living hours in Hindustan...of this lets assume that he spent 1/3rd of the time eating, sleeping, meditating, raising a family, praying etc....this leaves 292,000 living hours for proselytizing purposes, which again is quite a liberal estimate to do Mo's work in India...so 90 lakh conversions in 292,000 hours is roughly 31 people in one hour...or roughly 1 kafir per 2 minutes

must say Naqsh bhai, seems like a fast food approach to conversion if you ask me. Either that, or the Chishti PR machine seriously goofed up their math.

as i said in my article, if the SC decides against Mushy he will declare an emergency or martial law.

zeemax,

where did you hear/read about NS's return?

paddu,

I condemn those who bombed the blessed shrine of Khwaja e Khwajagan Hazrat Muinuddin Hassan Chishti Sanjari al ma'ruf ba Gharib Nawaz. They must have been Wahabis or Indian agents as no Sunni would ever bomb the sacred shrine of arguably the greatest saint of Hindustan who himself converted 90 lakh Hindus to Islam.