بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
السلام عليكم

STILL, MY SULTAAN

I broke my fast a sad person today! I know it's unusual for a Muslim to be sad at breakfast(iftaar), but I am sad; circumstance-induced sadness. My sadness stems from my dilemma over the sultaan's disposition over our fast this first day.

Last night was such a difficult one, no thanks to our foot-dragging sultaan. I understand he delegated someone to announce the sighting of the crescent on his behalf. For the first time in my adult life, someone is deputising for the sultaan in the discharge of this usually exclusive preserve of the sultaan.

I am sad this is happening, but definitely not surprised. In the pre-ramadaan meeting he had with Ulamaa last weekend, an academic, PhD precisely, appealed to his eminence to relax his 'curfew' on crescent sighting reporters which the sultaan pinned to 9pm. The sultaan's response actually prepared my mind for this unfortunate drama triggered by his rigidity which is unfolding, albeit behind transparent curtains. I am sad because the authenticity or otherwise of my fast rests on his jittery shoulder.

Last night, I was told a friend told the Ameer(Emir) of Gwandu that the crescent had been sighted. The Ameer, apparently satisfied with the sighting, attempted to reach the sultaan but met a brick wall! The sultaan's numbers were not reachable; switched off as service providers often put it. How the announcement finally reverberated from his snobbish office still beats me. I heard though, that Prof Oloyede, the SCIA Sec Gen, initially dissociated the sultaan's office from an initial announcement of the sighting of the crescent.

If the announcement which made us fast today was unauthorised by the sultaan, it may have been just a voluntary fast at most but definitely not ramadaan fast! It's that serious.

I understand the sultaan's unwillingness to accept report of crescent sighting over two hours after sunset. Astronomers, the sultaan's think tank on this matter rule out its authenticity. Islaam is actually stricter than astronomy on this issue. No one who claims to have sighted the crescent after maghrib will be likely to be taken seriously by Ulamaa. The disparity stems from the possibility that one who sighted the crescent before sunset may not have accessed the sultaan before three hours. The experience of the Gwandu monarch suffices. It's therefore a mistake to cordon any report on crescent sighting within same night or even the next day, as long as we can confirm the crescent was appropriately sighted.

In fiqh(Islaamic jurisprudential) books, there are provisions for announcements of crescent sighting in the afternoon of the the first day of ramadaan. Muslims, at such a time, will stop eating and fast the remaining hours. Some jurists opine that after ramadaan, that day's fast will be paid back while some say it will suffice. The latter refer to the aashooraa fast which was made mandatory in the afternoon at which time the sahaabah observed it without paying back.

I hope the sultaan realises that fasting is a religious duty which should be referred to Ulamaa for proper interpretation. The khaki tradition must be shed here.

Sheikh Umar Abdullah Dada Paiko
28th June, 2014