The War of Eid

The title seems to allude to a real war, but really, it is just the different dates Muslim celebrate the date of Eid and marking the end of Ramadhan, together with the disputes it ensues.

I’ve rarely experienced this because in Malaysia, there is only a single point of authority. A representative of the Kings’ of Malaysia will read a decree from the Malaysia’s religious cleric body, a person known as Penyimpan Mohor diRaja. In fact, this process of announcing the date of Eid (and start of Ramadhan) has already seeped into the culture of Malaysian, Malays especially, that if anyone pretends they are speaking like him, it is representing that he/she is delivering something important. For example a person can pretend that he is ending his bachelorhood and getting married soon, just like the manner of Penyimpan Mohor diRaja, then proceeds giving out wedding invitation cards.

In Malaysia, the Penyimpan Mohor diRaja will announce the date, but the date itself is determined by a government body composed of Muslim clerics. Supposedly this body would determine the important dates of Eid based on a few methods, two of which I know are 1) the sighting of the crescent moon and 2) the calculation based on understanding of astronomy. In the end, they announce the date and Muslims rejoice and prepare for Eid. In a way, non-Muslims prepare too because in a Muslim majority country, a Muslim holiday celebration will affect most of the ongoings, such as people taking days off, traffics, and also grocery shopping.

Meanwhile there is no such body in the UK, as far as I know of. As such, we follow the local Muslim’s communities. Problem is, the local community/mosque differ in determining the date of Eid, even between neighbouring mosques. It is not a problem for me as I simply take a few days off before and after Eid, so a difference of one day is accounted for. My children’s school however allow only one day of leave, so it was a bit problematic, or at least there is some explaining to be done to the school. To me this is a novel experience.

Reading online, this is also something that most Muslim’s in western country experience, the (very slightly) difficulty determining the date of Eid. Some advocate only the use of the first method while others refer to the second method. To be honest I do not understand the intricacies and solely rely on the announcement from Malaysian High Commission in London, which in turn follows London Central Mosque, which they say follow the dates announce by the religious body in Saudi. That’s quite a long chain of reliance. I however believe that a laymen like me do not have the capacity to delve into the matter. I stick with the chain above, and celebrate accordingly. May Allah accept our deeds.

On another note, in some parts of the world, there are people who are celebrating Eid in the middle of a war, oppressions and aggression. Let us send our doa(prayers) to them and be thankful that we are in such peaceful times that the dispute of a date can be hyperbolically called a war.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Thank you for reading.