Lemme share a hadīth with you, I’ll mention the reason why after:
During the rule of Mu’āwiyah, Kurayb (a Tābi’ī), who traveled to Syria from Madīnah, encountered the start of Ramadān there on a Friday, upon return to Madīnah, bn ‘Abbās asked him about when he saw the crescent. He said that he saw it on Friday, and that the people saw it too, and so Mu’āwiyah fasted and ordered the people to fast. Ibn ‘Abbās said that they saw it on Saturday night, and that they will continue to fast either until they see the crescent again or complete 30 days of Ramadān. Kurayb said to him, “Are you not satisfied with the sighting of the people of Shām?” Ibn ‘Abbās said, “No, this is what the Messenger of Allāh taught us.”
The reason why I am mentioning this hadīth (from Sahīh Muslim) is because many people believe that ❝in order to be a united Ummah, we must start Ramadhān the same day and we must celebrate ‘Eid the same day as well.❞
-The Hadīth clearly shows that there were differences even amongst the Sahābah (May Allāh be pleased with them all), yet they were united, loved one another and *accepted valid differences*. They didn’t gun each other down for holding different opinions.
There are also those who believe that ❝in order to be a united Ummah, we must follow Makkah/Saudi sighting.❞
– This is Islām and not Christianity, where you have Makkah as the “Vatican” and whatever they follow there, we too follow here! That’s not how Islām is! We don’t worship Lord of Saudi Arabia alone, or Lord of Tarīm whatever, we worship Lord of The Worlds and practise His dīn wherever we are. In books of Fiqh (Jurisprudence), you’ll only find Local sighting *or* Global sighting, there is *no* “Saudi sighting”; and they are both valid, but not Saudi sighting. If we want the ummah to be united then we need to start by learning Fardhul ‘Ayn (Knowledge which is obligatory on every adult, sane, Muslim) and then implement them in our life.
So, let’s learn to accept Ikhtilāf (differences) as a Mercy from Allāh… when they’re valid. So those of you who started fasting today (Tuesday), alhamdulillah; those who start tomorrow (Wednesday), alhamdulillah; those who start on Thursday..*ahem*..Pakistanis…you need to fix up.
Have a blessed Ramadhān 🙂
Picture from: Muslim Media Network
