By TCN News,
Kozhikode: This year’s Eid ul Fitr is on Tuesday, announced the Hijra Committee of India. Ramadan 30 was completed on August 29 (Monday) and the crescent appeared at 3.04 global time, hence the Eid is on Tuesday.
The Hijra Committee organised Eid Gah at the Kozhikode Indoor Stadium at 8 am, as there was no other Eid Gah today.
Ali Manicfan [Photo Courtesy: oocities.org]
Ali Manicfan, chief of the Hijra Committee, told TwoCircles.net that this year Ramadan was 30 days, from July 31st (Sunday) to August 29th (Monday). And the Eid ul Fitr falls on Shawal 1 which is August 30.
When asked about the announcement by major Muslim organizations of Kerala that the Eid was tomorrow, Manicfan said, “I have observed the moon-sighting issue in Kerala for the past 30 years and people say they have sighted the moon on days it is not possible. The lunar dates given in the various calendars in Kerala are different. Dates cannot and should not be changed like that. Even Saudi Arabia doesn’t calculate this correctly. Only the Bedouins in the Arabian deserts follow the correct calculation.”
There have been a few occasions when the different organizations in Kerala began the Ramadan and celebrated the Eid on different days. But recently all that have come to an end, taking the broader concept of unity of the community, and now all organizations follow same dates. When asked about the matter of the unity of the community in this issue, Manicfan said, “There should be unity in truth and not otherwise. People who know things should show the example. Qur’an is science and there is nothing against science in the Qur’an. The movements of the moon and its different phases can be observed and scientifically calculated. If we believe that the sun will rise on such and such day and time, why can’t it be the same for the moon also?”
He added that more details regarding the matter can be read and understood from the website www.hijracalendar.com.
Though the major organizations have announced that the Eid would fall on Wednesday only, some believers following the calculations of the Hijra Committee are celebrating Eid today. Eid prayers were held in different places. However, there are still some other people who are neither fasting nor celebrating the Eid today. Abdul Ali from Manjeri told TwoCircles.net, “I am not fasting today as I am convinced that today is Shawal 1. I am not celebrating Eid either as I want to celebrate it with the society.”
Eid is celebrated in some parts of Tamil Nadu also, where Mr Manicfan, basically from Lakshadweep, lives at present.