1b] When Should Eid Al-Adha Be Celebrated?

1b]
Suppose that the Moon is not sighted in Saudi Arabia; but in the
countries west of Saudi Arabia, it is observed. So when in Saudi
Arabia it will be the 9th of Zel-Hijjah, in the countrieswest of Saudi
Arabia, it will be the 10th of Zel-Hijjah. If you follow the
conflicting doctrine, inSaudi Arabia Eid Al-Adha will be on Hajj day,
but forpeople in western countries Eid-Al-Adha will be on the 11th of
Zel-Hijjah. And that is against the rules of Shariah. Now suppose in
Saudi Arabia the moon is sighted, but for any reason it is not sighted
in any countries west of Saudi Arabia. If it is 9th of Zel-Hijjah in
Saudi Arabia, then in western countries it will be 8th of Zel-Hijjah.
Under this condition, if EidAl-Adha and sacrifice are dependant upon
Hajj, then the countries west ofSaudi Arabia will have to observe Eid
Al-Adha on the 9th of Zel-Hijjah whichis, again, a deviation from laws
of Shariah. In SaheehBukhari, this Hadith is mentioned:
"Hadhrat Baraa (May AllahBe Pleased With Him) reported: The Messenger
of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) gave us a sermon onthe day of Nahr (10th
of Zel-Hijjah): 'The first thing we will do on this day of ours is
offer the Eid prayerand upon return we will sacrifice the animals.
Whoever did so, he acted according to our Sunnah, and whoever
sacrificed before the prayer, what he offered was just meat he
presented to his family, and that will not be considered as
sacrifice.'Abu Burdah bin Niyaar (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) got
up, and said, 'O Messanger of Allah, I sacrificed before Eid Al-Adha
prayers. Now Ionly have a baby ram thatlooks like it is a little well
over one year old.' The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said, 'Sacrifice
it but it will not be sufficient for any-one else after you.'"
(Bukhari, Book 1, Page 132)
From the study of this Hadith, it is very clear thatsacrifice before
Eid Al-Adha prayer is rejected by the Holy Prophet and he ordered Abu
Burdah (May Allah Be Pleased With Him) to sacrifice another animal.
Now, consider those who make Oqoof-e-Arafaat a condition for Eid
Al-Adha and sacrifice. They may perform their sacrifice oneday prior
to the actual day. How do you think their sacrifice will be accepted
in accordance with the rules? There is no danger of delaying
thesacrifice and the Eid prayers (with a legitimateexcuse) until the
12th of Zel-Hijjah. Even without an excuse, delaying Eid prayers is
permissible as an undesirable (Makrooh) act. Fiqh-e-Hanafi's renowned
book: "Fatawa Qazi Khan" mentions the following:
"If the Eid Al-Adha prayer, with a legitimate excuse, or not, is not
performed on the first day (10th of Zel-Hijjah), then it should be
performed on the second day (11th of Zel-Hijjah). And if it is not
performed on those two days, then it should be performed on the third
day (12th of Zel-Hijjah). After that, it can not be validly
performed."
(Fatawa Qazi Khan, Volume 1, Page 89)
In the light of these explanations, all aspects are quite clear that
if Eid Al-Adha prayers and sacrifices are performed before the 10th of
Zel-Hijjah, they will not beaccepted in the eyes of Shariah. But if
they are performed after the 10th of Zel-Hijjah, Eid Al-Adha and
sacrifices, with a legitimate excuse, will be treated as performed
without any defect. Without any excuse, they will be acceptable, but
undesirable (Makrooh).
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "UNITY OF THE UMMAH" ?
Some people, for the sake of unity of the Ummah, suggest that Eid
Al-Adha should be observed at thesame time throughout the world.
However, this act is impossible because of the different time zones of
the world. The entire globe cannot follow the same time zone. For
example, when it is 12:00 noon in Saudi Arabia, it is 8:00 PM in
Sydney, Australia and 3:00AM in Chicago, Illinois. So making Saudi
Arabia a base, we can not have theprayer of Zuhr at the same time in
Sydney and Chicago.
Likewise, the Moon sighting in various parts of the world is
different. Conclusively, the start andend of the months are also
different because they are based on the actual Moon sighting, as
Islamic months start at the appearance of the New Moon (and end as the
New Moon of the nextmonth is sighted). The Islamic concept of the
unity of the Ummah is notwhether the start of Ramadan, Eid Al-Fitr, or
Eid Al-Adha is observed at the same time. This is even against the
principles of nature.
The unity of the Ummah means that mutual relationships and cooperation
must be firm.The conflict among the Ummah must be resolved.Our
strength should be protected from creating divergences. There shouldbe
adherence to Allah's Halal (Permissible) and Allah's Haram
(Prohibited)as commanded by him. Any act that is Mustahab (doing such
a deed will berewarded but not doing itwill not result in punishment)
should be accepted as permissible and worthy of being rewarded. :->