{"id":7816,"date":"2013-08-06T01:39:44","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T01:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/eid-el-fitr-fg-declares-thursday-friday-public-holiday\/"},"modified":"2013-08-06T01:39:44","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T01:39:44","slug":"eid-el-fitr-fg-declares-thursday-friday-public-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/eid-el-fitr-fg-declares-thursday-friday-public-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Eid-el-Fitr: FG declares Thursday, Friday public holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Federal Government has declared Thursday and Friday this week as public holiday in commemoration of this year\u2019s Islamic festival, Eid-el-Fitr.<\/p>\n

Making the declaration in a statement in Abuja, Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro enjoined all Muslim faithful and Nigerians in general, to extend the spiritual benefits of Ramadan, which are love, joy and peace to their daily living and through this, contribute to the development of the nation.<\/p>\n

The statement which was signed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Fatima Bamidele, equally enjoined all Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the holiday to reflect on the imperative of peace in nation building. \u201cThe Minister wishes all Nigerians a most rewarding and peaceful celebration,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an has commanded us to refer to God and his messenger in matters of dispute (4:59; 26:10) and to ask \u201cthose who possess knowledge\u201d where we do not know (16:43).<\/p>\n

The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) has said: Abu Hurayrah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: \u201cStart fasting upon sighting the Crescent and terminate the fast upon sighting it and if it is hidden to you (by clouds), then count the month of Sha\u2019ban to thirty days.\u201d (Bukhari and Muslim) Abdullah Ibn Umar (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: \u201cWe are an uneducated community: We neither write nor calculate.<\/p>\n

A month is so and so days; meaning sometimes twenty and sometimes thirty.\u201d (Bukhari) Muslims are encouraged to look for the new crescent moon (hilal) on the evenings of August 7th and 8th in anticipation of the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal and the advent of Eid al-Fitr. Abdullah Ibn Abi Qais (RA) said: \u201cI heard A\u2019isha (RA) saying: \u2018The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) used to keep track of Sha\u2019ban more than any other month.<\/p>\n

Then he would fast the month of Ramadan when the crescent was sighted; and if it was hidden he would count thirty days and then fast.\u201d (al-Bayhaqiy) If the moon is sighted on August 7th, 2013, Eid-ul-Fitr would occur on Thursday, August 8th, 2013.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, Eid will fall on Friday, August 9th, 2013. Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, at the completion of Ramadan. Shawwal is the 10th month of the Islamic calendar. The `Eid-ul-Fitr is a very joyous day; it is a true thanksgiving day for the believing men and women.<\/p>\n

On this day Muslims show their real joy for the health, strength and the opportunities of life, which Allah has given to them to fulfill their obligation of fasting and other good deeds during the blessed month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n

Since the world is divided into several times zones, and since there are areas that get separated by 24 hours simply by crossing the international time zone, it would be only natural that the `Eid falls on different calendar days between different countries, and this would have nothing to do with disunity among the Muslims, but simply it becomes a matter of a country\u2019s geographical location.<\/p>\n

This is why there is what we call the International Lunar Date that takes such difference into consideration<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: National Mirror Newspaper<\/p>\n

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