Sadness prevails Eid al-Fiter celebrations
Most of the Arab states celebrate today the first day of Eid al-Fiter (Ramadan Holiday), while the catastrophe and sufferings of Muslims, mostly evident in Iraq and Palestine, prevails sadness rather than joy and happiness on the fall of the Eid festivities.
This year also, the story of difference to specify the first day of the Eid remained as in other years, in a clear example of differences among Muslims. Even religious occasions have not succeeded in unifying the ranks of Muslims split by political differences.
Libya celebrated the first day of the Eid yesterday, Monday, and the same did the Iraqi Sunni after the commission of Muslim scholars and chairman of the Sunni Waqf Divan announced that Monday is the first day of the Eid.
In Iraq's Kurdistan, the ministry of al-Awqaf and religious affairs announced that Tuesday, today, will be the first day of the Eid, while the Shiite in Iraq are expected to celebrate the Eid on Wednesday or Thursday. These announcements reflect the state of chaos in this country since its occupation by the American forces almost 6 months ago.
Celebration of the first day of Eid al-Fiter started today in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Sudan. Awqaf ministries in these states announced, despite differences in the beginning of the month of Ramadan over what should be the first day of fasting.
As in the Arab and Muslim states, Muslims in the west celebrate Eid al-Fiter. The office of the French council for Islam which met on Monday evening in Paris Mosque announced that Tuesday is the first day of Eid al-Fiter. Thereby, the French council for Islamic religion which was formed in the spring of this year had for the first time played its due role in defining the dates for the beginning and end of the holy month of Ramadan.
In southern east Asian countries, like Indonesia and Bangladesh, millions of Muslims are preparing to spend al-Eid vacations in their villages and towns. A matter which causes a traffic jam in transport means taking them to the greatest cities.
Several days before the Eid, certain Arab states including Libya, Algeria, Syria, UAE, Egypt, and Jordan released hundreds of detainees, some of them are political detainees, to spend the Eid with their relatives in an initiative repeated every year at Eid time.