Let's stop this moon nonsense!

by Mohsin Asharia

The Month of Ramadhan really is special. The daily
gatherings of the community at Islamic Centres
across the globe, poignant lectures to refresh the
mind and soul, and supplicating until dawn on the
Nights of Qadr, I hope I am not alone when I say I
miss this holy month when it finally leaves.

However, sadly, as the days of Shahr Ramadhan
draw to a close, often in our communities, rather
than making most of the remaining days to ask for
forgiveness of our sins, we are more preoccupied
with adding to them. How? Yes, you guessed it. I’m
referring to that rock nearly 400,000 km away that
we all seem to make such a fuss about. The moon.
Suddenly, we seem to forget about the importance
of the month of Ramadhan, and are more interested
in working out when Eid will be. When the
inevitable announcement comes and we figure that
the Hujjat Calendar got it wrong by one day, there
is uproar and we complain about how we won’t be
able to come for Eid prayers because we won’t be
able to take a day of work.

Funny, isn’t it, how the same problem doesn’t arise
when determining the day for Ashura? We don’t
seem to have a problem if Ashura is one day earlier
or later than we previously calculated. Why is that?
Maybe everyone wants an early Eid because it involves
one fewer fast. What a warped view this is!

Rather than seeing it as a burden, we should be
happy! An extra day with Shaytan locked up! An
extra day to ask for forgiveness of one’s sins! An
extra day in the Month of Allah (swt)! What
greater blessing could one ask for?

What I fail to understand is why it is such a big deal
when there are multiple Eids in the community.
Why is this such a bad thing? If Eid is such a great
day, why are you so sad if you get to celebrate it
twice? Sure, you may be fasting one day and not on
the next, but as Imam Ali (as) says,

“Eid is for him whose fasts have been accepted by
Allah, and whose worship has been appreciated by
Allah. Everyday in which you do not disobey Allah is a
day of Eid.”

This narration is telling us that it shouldn’t really
matter when Eid is. Our actions on this day are
more important. It is not 1st Shawwal that should
determine when our Eid is, rather our Eid should
be determined by not disobeying Allah (swt).

So this year, let’s not make a fuss about when Eid
is. Let’s not try to act as if we have PhD’s in Astronomy
and try to use complex phrases that we
don’t understand. Let’s just leave that to the experts
and instead focus on the true spirit of this
month, that of supplicating and asking for forgiveness
for our sins. That way, our Eid will be much
more worthy!