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Mohammad A. Auwal is an associate professor in the
Department of Communication Studies, California State
University, Los Angeles. Currently, he is visiting Gulf
University for Science and Technology in Kuwait.
I just heard from friends that Ramadan moon was sighted in Saudi
Arabia. I am currently in Kuwait, which is following
the Saudi lead. People have already prayed taraweeh.
So we'll have the first day of Ramadan here tomorrow
inshaAllah.
The idea of questioning the authorities or checking out news that
comes from authorities is almost universally unthinkable
in this part of the world, especially in religious
matters, because of a historical process that
infantilizes numerous people in the Arab/Muslim world.
Infantilization characterizes not only some Arab/Muslim
societies but also other third world societies that have
traditional or dictatorial governance. In this process
people are so spoiled (while being taken care of,
mentored or treated like children) that they tend to
think and behave like infants even when they become
adults. I have met this sort of people almost
everywhere, from classrooms and mosques to streets and
shopping malls. Just as children do not question or are
not allowed to question parental decisions, most Muslims
in this part of the world do not or cannot take issue
with the authorities decisions.
Based on the scanty information that is available at this moment,
the Saudi authorities did not explain how or where they
saw the moon. As we have seen in the years past, their
implication is simply this: "Trust us."
The 'trust us' approach, however, is problematic as it contradicts
well-established scientific evidence. Based on
available information at the time of this writing,
it seems that the Saudies have seen the moon again this
year before anyone anywhere else in the rest of the
world. But according to
www.moonsighting.com
a site maintained by Muslim scientists in
collaboration with the Shura Council of North America,
the new moon could not have been seen on
October 3, 2005, anywhere east of the United States.
You can see the details there. As far as people of this
part of the world are concerned, the issues of
scientific evidence or plausibility are irrelevant.
What frustrates me, as I explained in an article prior to the last
Hajj or Eid-ul-adha, is the virtual rejection of the
tradition of celebrating Ramadan and Eids based on local
sighting of the moon today. Khatibs in this part of the
world would invariably begin their Friday sermons by
quoting the hadith that prohibits any innovations in
matters of religion. But they are blind to the
innovation that is being incorporated into our religion
as a result of the modern communication technologies.
Since the days of the Prophet SA until recently, people in Medina,
for example, began and ended fasting based on local moon
sighting. People in any other countries did not get
information from Mecca to begin or end fasting.
Following the prophetic traditions, they relied
on their own sighting of the crescent moon. To this
day, Muslims in many countries of Asia and Africa make
their Ramadan or Eid decisions based on local moon
sighting.
Now that news travels fast across the globe, people want more and
more unity. In the Arab world, they generally follow the
Saudi lead in Ramadan and Eids even though this goes
against the Islamic traditions of the last 14
centuries. In other parts of the world, especially in
North America, Muslims get split between the local
sighting of the moon and that of the Saudi leadership.
Once or twice every year, thus, the pleasures of Ramadan and Eids
turn into an ineffable agony as we see decisions
stemming from Saudi Arabia split Muslim communities
worldwide. What further frustrates me is the reluctance
of the Saudi authorities even to listen to other Muslim
scholars and scientists or to explain the ways they make
what appears to be indefensible decisions.
As I raised these issues personally with several people in opinion
leadership positions here, they basically advised me
to turn off my intellect and blindly follow the
authorities. This would definitely help me avoid
the pains of the first days of Ramadan and the days of
the Eids, which haunt us almost every year.
But even as I try to follow their advice, I find myself in the
thorns of those thoughts that remind me of the examples
of our noble Prophet SA and his righteous followers that
we must stand up against crowds that just report and
follow whatever they hear without checking out its
validity. |
