Muslims engaged in bitter exchange online as they debated on whether Idd Ul Adha should be marked on Tuesday or Wednesday in Kenya.
According to National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, he threatened to petition the Judicial Service Commission to take disciplinary action against Chief Kadhi Sheikh Ahmad Muhdhar, claiming he overstepped his mandate when he questioned the decision by Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to gazette Tuesday as a public holiday.
In his statement he said, “Chief Khadhi is out of order and should not fault Cabinet Secretary Matiangi on Idd ul-Adha holiday date. This will divide Muslims.”
Several people, including lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi, supported Mr Duale’s sentiments and encouraged him to prepare the petition.
According to Ahmednassir, “I agree with you…the Chief Khadi must be dismissed… either he is incompetent or plainly reckless…”
Ali Hassan, tweeting as @AlibhaiH, concurred: “Actually all the kadhis in the country ought to undergo fresh vetting to determine their understanding of Islam and the law. It’s not sufficient just to have memorised the holy Quran and a couple of Hadiths.”
But Suleiman Dube defended the Chief Kadhi.
“Who are you to interfere with chief kadhi’s decision? Mind your tongue. Keep off. This is not politics,” he wrote.
Mbarak Salim hinted at what could actually be the cause of the ongoing misunderstanding.
He wrote: “Chief kadhis have been followed since the office was started and sometimes differed with dates in Saudi but everyone respected the kadhi. Even now the kadhi made the right decision but ni chuki tu and people wanting to force Muslims in Kenya to follow Saudis.”
Saudi Arabia, the country where pilgrimage activities take place, determines the date of this Idd.
According to Islamic teaching, Idd Ul Adha (the feast of slaughtering) takes place on the 10th day of the third month after Ramadhan.
Although basically the calendar depends on sighting of the crescent moon, in this case the question is: Sighting the moon in Saudi Arabia or locally?
That is the bone of contention spiced up with politics and power play.
This is not exclusively a Kenyan problem.
India, for example, has announced that Idd shall be on Thursday, August 22, while its neighbour Pakistan will mark it on August 21.
All these countries are right because Idd Ul Adha unlike the Idd Ul Fitr (for end of Ramadhan) is marked between 10th and 13th day of the month.
Therefore, whoever observes it on any of those days is deemed to have fulfilled the obligation.