Rift between Muslim leaders and CS Kindiki over declaration of tomorrow’s Idd holiday

The Muslim faithfuls have been urged to ignore government’s declaration of tomorrow as Idd-Ul-Fitr day and stick to the Muslim religious traditions and norms of sighting of the moon.

The apparent rift between the government and the Muslim leadership emerged after Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) lamented of unilateral decision by Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary of declaring Friday, April 21, 2023 as a public holiday to mark end of Muslim’s holy month of Ramadhan through a gazette notice issued yesterday.

“I urge our Muslim brothers and sisters to stick to our religious norm of sighting of the moon and not declaration by the government. This is confusing and some people more so those in the rural areas may just follow and break their fast on Friday even if the moon is not sighted. The government should have consulted Muslims before making the decision. The safest way to have done it was to draft the holiday after the 30th day. This is a big mistake and misleading.” Supkem chairman Ole Naado said.

The leadership accused the government of acting unilaterally saying that end of Ramadhan should only be pronounced by the Chief Kadhi and not those in State authority.

“Plainly stupid. Friday is the 30th day of Ramadan. (Broke my Twitter fast to post this tweet).” Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi retorted.

According to the Muslim calendar, Ramadhan always ends on the 29th or 30th day depending on the sighting of the moon.

This means that if the crescent moon doesn’t appear on Thursday, Muslims in Kenya will continue fasting on Friday even though the government has already declared it a public holiday.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 2 (1) of the Public Holidays Act, I declare Friday, 21st April 2023, shall be a public holiday to mark Idd-ul-Fitr.” Kindiki said through a special gazette notice dated April 19, 2023.

Eid-Ul-Fitr is a major religious holiday for Muslims that marks the end of the month-long fasting period of Ramadhan which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

The celebration begins with special prayers, known as the Eid prayer, performed early in the morning after the sighting of the crescent moon.

Muslims dress in new or clean clothes, offer charity to the poor, and visit relatives and friends.