31 Days of Dhul Hijjah?
Assalamu alaikum, I’d wondered what Umm Zaid was talking abut until I clicked on the link she had on her blog. And I was like, “Huh?” How do you explain this? Did someone, or osme group, get together and decide that we were now going to have a 31 day calendar?
I mean, it’s right there in bold type, uh, er, well Jaws is saying to me “31 days of Dhul Hijjah”, beside the names of the countries, and I’m like, well, there shouldn’t be 31 days of Dhul Hijjah should there? I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something.
Well, no, not that dramatic! But… Umm Zaid is right, Not only do the people living in certain countries have to depend on / follow their governments’ announcements regarding these things, but millions of people outside of these countries follow their announcements too! And if we keep making “mistakes” like this, year after year after year, can you really call them misaktes? There has to be some method to this, some reasoning behind this, as to why we keep going through this year after year after year, it seems, And I’m no longer happy with the “oops, we just made a mistake” excuse, not when millions of people, many I know, and most who I don’t, follow these countries in their decisions regarding this matter, and most do so without any knowledge of the pretty much yearly moonfighting and controversy that surrounds certain days and months in the Islamic calendar.
So tel me, how and why are their 31 days of Dhul Hijjah? ’cause inquiring minds wanna know, like me! The sarcastic snarky part of me wants to say, that the next time someone accuses one of a “bida” for following a local, actually confirmed, verifiable moon sighting, that you point to the “official first day” in different countries, on the site linked above, and ask the person throwing the word “bida” in your face once again, what is the bida? Following a local moonsighting, or 31 days of an Islamic month!
Because if you can justify a 31st day of a given month, then you would have to say that the month must not have been started on the correct day, wouldn’t you? And what do you say about the people that follow you, that feel as though they have to make up a missed fast because of their uneasiness regarding this matter?
Anyway, sorry once again, I know I’ve beaten this issue to death, once again! However, this is a weighty responsibility on the people charged with it, it’s not some game of “who gets to be first”, it’s not some kinda race, where only certain countries get to be first! And I feel like that is how some people treat it! Anyway, that’s all I have to say for now.
