Instead of sighting the Moon and observing the month of...

Instead of sighting the Moon and observing the month of Ramazan and Eid based on the New moon, the decisions on which day is the first of the month are either implemented by the governments in Muslim countries or by following a particular school of thought; for most shias, moonsighting is issued from the office of their Maraja-e-Taqleed.

Quite ironically, these Maraja never agree on a single date and those who try to resolve the differences end-up issuing another date based on consensus, thereby adding to the already unclear situation and ambiguity. Hence, the acts of worships are performed under ‘uncertainty’, or utmost, at some level of it!

When asked, however, what happens when the same Salat-leader has to lead the prayers on two or three consecutive days, and some of the family members are fasting while other half are observing the Eid? They say, we have in place ‘Plan A’, to take those who are fasting ‘for a ride’, hence breaking their fast (after arriving at the Kasr distance) and ‘Plan B’ is to not go for Eid Salat as well as defer it’s celebrations until the following day.

They quietly stay at home and observe Eid the next day with the other half. [3] The outcome is similar to the violation of the Jew’s ‘Sabbath-day’ [4] or equivalent to Sunnis’ fabricated Hadith: Rasool Allah -saww (nouzobillah) said: ‘my companions are like the stars, whomever you follow, you will be guided!! [5] Amir-ul-Momineen -asws , on the contrary, says: When there are two contradictory statements, (at least) one of those will be unjust.

[6] The same group, who cannot agree on the 1 st of the month (for the month of Ramazan, Shawwal/Zil-Hajj), however, agrees on ‘one common front’ that all shias, one day or the other day, should join them in Eid Salat and Eid celebrations, if they cannot, they should not be organising Aza programmes on Eid, in quiet brotherhood and harmony with the Wahabis/Sunnis in this respect!!

Since it happens every year, we decided to reply to their accusations where they call the acts of ‘Aza-o-Matam’ on Eid and abstaining from their Eid celebrations, as ‘Fitna’, see Appendix I (the write-up is in Urdu, which is unfortunate for those who may not be able to read Urdu. However, our reply is in English in the main article as well as highlighted yellow within boarders under Urdu text).