Should we follow Saudi Arabia in Eid-ul-Adha?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, the only one worthy of worship.

A few days back, one of the brothers told me that Eid-Al-Adha should be celebrated on the same day Hujjaj (people performing Hajj) are performing sacrifice, which is 10th Dhul-Hijja of Islamic Calendar. What he was saying was that any believer who live in USA should not determine the 10th Dhul-Hijja according to moonsighting, but follow the calendar of Hajj to determine the day of Eid. On the surface, this makes the most sense, and I held that opinion for a long time, until I learned more details. I would like to share what I have learned.

First of all, everyone should celebrate Eid on the day their local masjid decided upon, where they pray their regular Salah, regardless of the date being correct or not, because Eid is not an individual act, but a community act, and  it is an obligation for a believer to stick with the community, unless the community has abandoned Salah and are open sinners. One should not travel to a far place to celebrate Eid, because he or she agrees with the fiqh of that Imam in this instance. In the matter of individual fiqh one should certainly follow the fiqh that seems more correct.

Now, let us look at the claim of Saudi Hajj calendar determining the Eid ul Adha for the world.There are two reasons given for us to follow Saudi Arabia. One is that it will create unity. In fact, unity is misunderstood, because unity among believers does not mean every locality submits to the rule of the central government of Khilafat. It is an impossible thing to do. In early days of Islam, governors were appointed for different areas of the world to govern according to the needs of the people. Abu Musa Al-Ashri didn't apply every single rule that Umar applied in medina, but made changes to fit the situation, within the limits of Sharia. Unity in Islam means to unite under laws of Allah, and accept the authority of central Khilafah in the matters pertains to Nation in general. Celebrating Eid is a matter of unity and matter of Nation, but determining the day to celebrate Eid is a matter of local Fiqh. However, if the central Khilafah commands to follow a certain day, then the matter becomes following the authority, and it becomes obligation to follow that day. As far as I know, we don't have Khilafah, nor do Saudis ask us to follow them. So the matter settles here.

Second and strongest case made is that 10th Dhul-Hijja is the day of sacrifice during Hajj, and should be the day for every believer around the world to perform sacrifice and celebrate Eid. For years, I supported this until I went to Hajj myself. When I learned about the rituals of Hajj, I could not find the instructions on celebrating Eid for people performing Hajj. It was an odd discovery, and a reality shock to me.

It is related from Anas ibn Malik that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If someone slaughters before the prayer, he was slaughtered for himself. If someone slaughters after the prayer, he has completed his rite and followed the sunna of the Muslims." (Bukhari # 5226)

In fact, Eid-Al-Adha is not an act of sacrifice, but it is a Salah that we pray together as a community. During Hajj, there is no Eid Salah for people performing Hajj, because there is no Sunnah for doing so. However in the above hadith Prophet (PBUH) invlidate the sacrifice, if done before the Salah, so Salah is the actual Eid and not the sacrifice. If there is no day of Eid during Hajj, how can we follow Hajj for Eid.

Prophet (PBUH) said "Yaum-An-Nahr, Yaum-Al-Hajj-Al-Akbar" ("Day of Sacrifice is the greatest day of Hajj") (I translated this with my limited knowledge of Arabic so help me correct mistakes) (Zaad ul-Maad) (Abu Daud)

Another argument presented to me was from the book of Ibn Qayyiam where he claims that day of Nahr (sacrifice) is better than Arafah, meaning that 10th Dhul Hijja has higher status than 9th DhulHijja. He quoted the above hadith. Well, this hadith is not enough to tell us that Eid-ul-Adha is connected to Hajj. It only tell us that Day of Sacrifice is better then Day of Arafat. Day of Sacrifice and Eid-ul-Adha is celebrated on 10 Dhul-Hijja but not the same ritual. In fact, Ibn Qayyim states in the same chapter that his teacher's (Ibn Taymiah) opinion that Arafat is the day of Eid for Hujjaj, but Day of Sacrifice is the day rest of the world gather for Eid, which clearly proves that determination of Eid is a different process for rest of the world. If slaughter for non-Hajjaj was based on the date and time of Hajj date and time, Prophet (PBUH) wouldn't nullify the slaughter before Eid Salah. In essence, the ritual of slaughter is same but when to do it is determined by local authorities. It is supported by ahadith and Ibn Qayyim and his teacher Ibn Taymiah.

 It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stayed in Madinah for ten years, offering sacrifice (every year on Eid).” [Narrated by Ahmad, 4935; al-Tirmithi, 1507; classed as hasan by al-Albani in Mishkat al-Masabih, 1475]

Moreover, Eid-ul-Adha was obligated in the early days of Hijrah in Medina, and the Prophet (PBUH) celebrated Eid for 8 years, before Hajj became obligated. So, Eid-ul-Adha is not Eid-ul-Hajj, and they are not one in the same. In fact, there is no evidence that there was any effort from surrounding areas of Makkah to determine the days of Hajj so Eid-ul-Adha could be celebrated on the same days. 10 days is a long period and enough time for a horseman to travel a long distance with the news. Still I fail to find a single such event in the history. So, every town must be depHanding upon the sighting of the moon to celebrate Eid. If it was good enough for the first three generation, why it is not good enough for us?

With every evidence, it becomes clear that Eid-ul-Adha is not connected to Hajj and Hajj calendar is not required to be followed to determine the day of Eid for localities. Every person who believes in Allah and his Messenger should surrender to these evidences, unless they can find a stronger evidence.

www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/97750

What I am saying is what Ibn Baaz and Ibn Uthaymeen, and other scholars have said. Both Eid is based on the sighting of the moon either in the locality or in other land depending upon the opinion of the Fiqh one follows. So, if a community follows the moon sighting of Saudi Arabia as a matter of life, then they are free to do so, but if one tries to follow Hajj dates for celebrating Eid, it is an innovation in Islam. This subtle difference need to be understood and followed.

Also, following the local moon sighting is a stronger opinion then following a global moon sighting.

If one is looking for unity, they should reject weak opinion for the strongest opinion, regardless of who hold that opinion, and unity will follow.

If any of you find any evidence contrary to this, please forward it to me, as we follow the Quran and Sunnah, and not what our heart desire.

And Allah knows best.

JazakAllah Khairin

A slave of Allah
AbuArman Jumani