Head of Ummah T&T/The Muslim Federation Imam Rasheed Karim is calling on all local Islamic bodies to unite and approach the Government to discuss the status of Eid ul-Adha.
Karim said Eid-ul-Adha is the greater celebration and most revered in Islam when compared to Eid-ul-Fitr.
He was speaking with Guardian Media yesterday at the Masjid-ul- Furqaan at Greenidge Street, Felicity, Chaguanas, during Eid-al-Adah celebrations.
Karim said he wants Islamic bodies to approach the Government with one voice to either call for the implementation of Eid-ul-Adha as a separate public holiday or replace Eid-ul-Fitr with Eid- ul-Adha as the public holiday.
His views were echoed by other Muslims such as Hajji Sohil Khan who declared Eid-ul-Adha as the greater of the two Eids.
Karim said there are close to 150,000 Muslims in T&T with many more converts adding to the flock annually.
He said one can no longer say that a person with an Arabic name is a Muslim since there are many who have converted from other faiths as Hindusim and Christianity to find peace in Islam.
Karim said it was also unfair that the Government assists only a handful of Islamic organisations. He said Ummah T&T/The Muslim Federation consists of 25 independent masjids which represent over 20,000 Muslims in various communities across T&T.
He said peppercorn funding is given to a handful of Islamic organisations in order to do charitable work while Government pumps $millions into promoting drunkenness and lewdness annually under the guise of culture while religious organisations that assist the poor and needy are treated with disdain and contempt.
He said, “We promote an unholy culture with tax payers’ monies and then in the end we complain that there is too much crime and immorality in T&T. When the state is funding immorality annually what fruits they expect to reap.”
Eid ul-Adha , which is also called Eid Qurbani or Bakra Eid, is also called the Festival of the Sacrifice. It is the second of two Islamic holidays celebrated worldwide each year and considered the holier of the two. It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham in the Bible) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God’s command. But, before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead. In commemoration of this intervention, an animal is sacrificed ritually and divided into three parts. One share is given to the poor and needy, another is kept for home, and the third is given to relatives.
In the Islamic lunar calendar, Eid ul-Adha falls on the 10 day of Dhu al-Hijjah, and lasts for three days.
In the international or Gregorian calendar, the dates vary from year to year shifting approximately 11 days earlier each year. In Islamic countries such as the United Arab Emirate a 4 day holiday is givem for Eid- ul-Adha
