Lebanon Sunnis to Mark Eid al-Fitr Monday, Most Shiites Tuesday
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani has announced that tomorrow, Monday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, as Shiite religious authorities said Eid begins Tuesday.
“We have verified according to the rules of Sharia that (tomorrow,) Monday, July 28, 2014 A.D. is the first day of (the lunar Islamic month of) Shawwal 1435 A.H., and accordingly tomorrow, Monday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr,” Qabbani, who heads Lebanon's highest Sunni Muslim religious authority Dar al-Fatwa, announced in a statement.
Later on Sunday, Lebanon's Higher Islamic Shiite Council announced in a statement that Tuesday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
The statement was issued following a meeting chaired by the council's Deputy Head Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan and attended by a number of clerics.
"We have not verified that Shawwal's crescent moon has been sighted, which means that tomorrow, Monday is the last day of Ramadan and Tuesday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr,” said the statement.
Qabalan apologized for not receiving well-wishers this Eid “due to the dangerous situations in the region and in mourning over the souls of the martyrs in Gaza, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, the office of the official representative in Lebanon of Iran's supreme guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also announced that Eid will begin on Tuesday.
Last Monday, the juristic committee of the institution of late Lebanese Shiite scholar Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued a statement in which it announced that Monday, July 28 is the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
According to Muslim tradition, it is the sighting with the naked eye of the new moon that signals the start of Eid al-Fitr.
Sunni religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have also announced that Eid al-Fitr begins Monday.
During the fasting month of Ramadan, Muslim believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset.
Ramadan is sacred to Muslims because it is during that month that tradition says the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed.
The fast is one of the five main religious obligations under Islam.
Y.R.
27 July 2014, 23:10
48
eid moubarak sa3id to all, kol 3am wa antoum bi alf khir.
Easy on sweets and baklawas...
28 July 2014, 00:17
23
This right here shows how much Sunni and Shia hate each other. They celebrate a Muslim holidays on different days. That'd be like if Catholics celebrated Christmas on the 25th and Protestants on the 26th. It's gotten to the point where holidays have become sectarian, what a shame.
28 July 2014, 01:36
22
Why is that, carcass? "Well, the reason is that the Russian Orthodox Church still lives according to the old Julian Calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar" as it says on a Yahoo! post. Continuing, it says "for the not-so-religious part of the society Christmas time is just a long holiday season. Many people start celebrating Christmas on December 25 (together with the Western World), then continue to observe New Year Eve with festive parties, enjoy New Year Day with their families and, finally, celebrate Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7."
28 July 2014, 01:38
42
Keyword is "not-so-religious." The Russians are simply 13 days behind in everything. They're stupid.
28 July 2014, 09:58
20
Eid is becoming political. The office of the late Ayatollah Fadlallah follows the scientific method of when the Eid is.
28 July 2014, 15:50
51
Thank you bigjohn, this is what makes Lebanon great, is our diversity yet close kinship when it comes down to it.
