The decision to gazette Friday April 21 as a national public holiday to mark Idd-ul-Fitr has ruffled feathers as a section of Muslims took issue with the move by Interior CS Kithure Kindiki.
He added that the decision is a big gamble for the government because it is not assured that the crescent moon will appear on the same day to mark the end of the holy month of fasting. He also reckons that the end of Ramadhan should only be pronounced by the Chief Kadhi and not those in State authority.
I urge our Muslim brothers and sisters to stick to our religious norm of sighting of the moon and not declaration by the government. This is confusing and some people more so those in the rural areas may just follow and break their fast on Friday even if the moon is not sighted," he said.
“The government should have consulted Muslims before making the decision. The safest way to have done it was to draft the holiday after the 30th day. This is a big mistake and misleading,” he added.
Ramadhan always ends on the 29th or 30th day depending on the sighting of the moon. This means that if the crescent moon doesn’t appear on Thursday, Muslims in Kenya will continue fasting on Friday even though the government has already declared it a public holiday.
Mr Ole Naado’s sentiments were echoed by a section of Muslims in the country who took to social media to question the government’s motive in declaring Friday a holiday.
Earlier in the week, Deputy Chief Kadhi Sukhyan Omar wrote to all Kadhis across the country to engage in searching and sighting of the crescent moon. He said announcement on the sighting of the moon will only be done after thorough verifiability. https://nation.africa/kenya/news/supkem-leader-calls-out-kindiki-for-declaring-idd-holiday-on-friday-4205528
I had actually seen a gazzette notice declaring Monday 24th as the IDD holiday.
This will be a major goof if no moon is cited today. @Soprano guy ako confused.
Waislamu wa Kenya waacha kujifanya ati wao ndio huangalia juu. Let them be honest. Mecca ndio huamua kama wameona mwezi ama bado. Wengine ni kuface mecca na kuinamisha kinyambis
Ile siku ntakua tikitator wa Kenya nita-ban hizi religious holidays zote za kishienzi, including hizi tucker tucker zinaitwa sijui Easter na Diwali. They’re a waste of time. Hizo zitakuwa personal choice, unaenda ku-celebrate huko na nyanyako. Sio kutumia gafment resources on ad space ya ku-wish raia Happy ________(insert appropriate holiday) every 5 weeks.
This is not a matter of what ifs,Muslims need to work with science and realize times have changed.During the time of Mohamed(salla Allahu alayhi wa-sallam,” ) they worked with guess work,but now you can predict with precision when the next phase of the moon will appear!
Waislamu hawana confusion Boss.
Gava ingetoa holiday after 30 days kusingekuwa na hii confusion.mwezi usipoonekana leo inamaana kesho bado tunafunga tukamilishe 30 days na ni Holiday.But ikionekana then Friday is Eid.Was Just a question of early prediction of the moon sighting
