The Setting Moon

 

Of the signs of Allah is that He created the moon and the sun as a means to measure time. The importance of these two spheres in your lives cannot be underestimated. Muslims will do well to understand the role of the sun and the moon in their lives and that it is of the favours of Allah unto them.

Those who pray their five daily prayers on time and those who fast regularly will be dependent on the sun and the moon to perform their worship. Then there is the pilgrimage which too is dependent on the sighting of the moon. While man is fallible and prone to error, the course of these two circular bodies are set and controlled by Allah. Whether the moon was visible or not, the moon was not seen as per the official announcement. What is sad is the memes that has since been circulating. If the decree of Allah was that the moon will not be sighted locally, then you accept and leave the matter at that. The only alternative is for you then to accept the sighting from neighbouring countries. But that line was already drawn before the sighting. Did the memes then intend to question those who made the ruling that the moon was not sighted? You have accepted these people, the “maankykers”, for this purpose. Do you now question them or the fiqh? If you do not trust them, then what is the alternative and are you prepared for the alternative? If the memes did not question the “maankykers”, then be reminded that the sun and the moon are of the signs of Allah and are of the favours of Allah unto you.

The moon issue is not going away in a hurry as you have seen for over the last forty years locally. How much importance should you attach to man-made boundaries? What defines the difference in region, is it language and culture? Does this apply to the general Muslim or is it the language (mother tongue) of the ulama. Does the difference in ruler play a role even though both rulers are non-Muslim or is it because two countries are Muslim minorities?

The matter must be discussed with the aim of learning and understanding. It must be discussed with the aim of developing as a community with ideal forums and structures. What impact has this issue had on you and in what are you keen to improve or see improvement?

 

You may also be interested in: The Cape Muslim Dialogue: The Freezer is Full (capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com)

 

Picture courtesy https://www.duluthnewstribune.com

 

CT Muslims - Tradition over everything

There is a right and there is a wrong and then there is a grey area. We have been given a way to discern things but do we do this as our lives evolve in its various aspects.

The many ways of doing things may lead to others not seeing  the benefit of one methodology over another. Many will see this blog only as criticism. The truth is that as Muslims we ought to think and ponder over things. Allah speaks much about the Bani Israeel in Quran and many will read it as mere stories or some may even use these ayaat to point a finger at the Jews. This sort of thinking causes us to fail to remind ourselves when we are drifting away from the laws of Allah because we have failed to realise our shortcomings.

Our community is one filled with tradition and, many-a-time, consumed by it. It is a fact that many times either tradition trumps the Islamic ruling or that at times tradition cannot be separated from the religious practices of the people. We either justify some actions or we avoid the topic in its entirety and we condemn the one for objecting to a certain practice or tradition as a madman. There must be a challenge out there for someone to write a book about the laws of Islam versus the many practices and traditions. Such a book that will shed light on the various matters and that we may all be better informed. Issues relating to birth, to marriage and to death and the very many others traditions and practices in between.

 Of the customs is to comment on religious issues either without knowledge on the subject or without the requisite proofs from Quran and Sunnah. Perhaps as a sign of dwindling respect for parents or perhaps people are better informed, but these days one hears less  "my father did so" or "my father said ..." which of course cannot be used of proof (of validity) in religious matters. The other interesting approach is to say that "my Sheikh/Mowlana/Imaam said ...". It may be that the listener did not fully listen the Imam and thus may have omitted something or the Imam may have passed on something without relating the proof or context. This is something that may cause as issue to be lost in translation or rather transmission. Thus it becomes difficult to present your argument, defense or become a proponent of an issue when you say "my imam said ...". Yet, our community life is driven by this concept. The difficulty is then that when there is disagreement, the argument is raised about "ulama bashing" when in fact it is merely a case of contextualising a ruling or correcting a transmitted statement.

The crux of the matter is whether we profess to be a vibrant Muslims community or whether we can attest to being that type of community. It is a question that we can ask and answer individually and collectively. There must be a benchmark though. Were we to made aware of actions and traditions that do not conform to the laws of Islam, will be discard them. We may at this stage deny that we actually have to come to this sort of analysis. There is an opportunity for us to do introspection and as issues are raised, we may find a way to analyse it and take the appropriate action.

May we of those who uphold the Quran and Sunnah and discard those practices that is not in sync with Islam.

And Allah knows Best