Was Hajj yesterday, which makes it Eid today. Doesn't it? According to many Mosques around London (namely the Pakistani Mosques, apparently), around 28 in number - v's two others (RPM and LMC - only the main mosques?!), Eid should be celebrated on tomorrow. Hayes Islamic Cultural and Community Centre (The HICC) have in fact permitted Eid Jumu'ah to take effect on both days, Saturday for the Somalians, and Sunday for the rest of the community.
I spent the best part of yesterday trying to figure out when Eid should be celebrated. In my heart, I felt it should be today, but according to brother-dear, we should go with the majority. Firstly, I didn't understand why this may be the case, and anyone who listened got an ear full of whats about to come next, so you may as well get an eye-full!
Hajj Friday = Eid Saturday! It's not rocket science is it? Maybe it's not so straight forward? Apparently the moon didn't show itself at the beginning of the month until a day after Saudi. Okay, I get that. But surely, Eid Ul-Adha is a celebration of Hajj right? I've been wrecking my brains all day over this, how could this be? HOW COULD THIS BE?
Conclusion: Maybe the Greenwich meantime isn't the 'centre of the earth'. As Muslims we pray towards the Ka'ba right? Every single muslim faces towards the Qibla. And as we travel there for our pilgrimage, and it is the Ultimate House of Allah (swt), maybe, just MAYBE... the day begins there. So when it's 12am 10 Dhul Hijjah in Medina, it's 9pm 8 Dhul-Hijjah in the UK (draw a circle here for diagrammatic ease, write 'UK' at 11 o'clock, and 'Medina' at 1 o'clock, then draw an arrow from Medina to UK around the circle) - so the sun rotates around the world for the rest of the day... few hours later... Pakistan 10 Dhul Hijjah, then Australia 10 Dhul-Hijjah, then USA, then UK. If that is the case, why are Pakistan and Bangladesh celebrating Eid on Monday?!
*Note, comments in this article are unauthenticated opinions.
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I don't get the problem. Eid is celebrated on the 11th of Dhul-Hajj, the beginning of which is determined locally in the normal fashion. Just because the 10th (or day of Arafat) is on day x in Saudi, doesn't mean it would be anywhere else.
So no, I don't think Arafat being on Friday over there means anything for us. I DID celebrate on Saturday though, but only 'cos London Central Mosque (and so my local) picked it.
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