Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La Ilaha Illallah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lillahi Al-Hamd

The Media Office of Hizb utTahrir / Wilayah Afghanistan congratulates the entire Muslim Ummah on the arrival of the blessed Eid al-Adha. We hope that Allah (swt) accepts the acts of obedience, worship, struggles, sacrifices, supplications, and Hajj rituals of the Muslims by His grace and mercy.

Eid al-Adha is a symbol of absolute obedience to the Abrahamic model and a reminder of the unity and oneness of the Islamic Ummah. This Eid should be an opportunity for the Ummah to renew its covenant with the Lord of the Worlds and to reconnect the scattered ranks of the Muslims. However, once again, we witness that the single Islamic Ummah has become divided on one of its greatest religious-political occasions.

In the statement of the Supreme Court of the Government of Afghanistan, it is stated:“The members of the Moon Sighting Committee did not see the crescent moon of Dhul-Hijjah in any province of the country, nor did any of our dear compatriots testify in the Shari’ah courts that they had seen it. Therefore, next Saturday will be the first day of Eid al-Adha.”

Although the ruling regime has made this decision as part of its Shari’ah responsibility within the borders of Afghanistan’s political territory, from the Shari’ah perspective, and considering the principle of unity of the Islamic Ummah, ignoring the testimony of Muslims in the Two Holy Mosques and other Islamic lands and restricting the sighting to the territory of Afghanistan means giving preference to a national view over the Shari’ah ruling; and this approach is deeply concerning because differences in moon sighting are not permissible in an era where messages are exchanged rapidly. The Messenger of Allah (swt) explicitly said regarding the moon sighting: «صُومُوا لِرُؤْيَتِهِ وَأَفْطِرُوا لِرُؤْيَتِهِ، فَإِنْ غُمَّ عَلَيْكُمْ فَأَكْمِلُوا عِدَّةَ شَعْبَانَ ثَلَاثِينَ»“Fast upon seeing it (the crescent) and break your fast upon seeing it, and if it is hidden from you, then complete thirty days of Sha’ban.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari)

Therefore, if according to the sighting of the crescent and the Shari’ah testimony of a group of Muslims the pilgrims are standing in Arafat, the Ummah cannot celebrate Eid on a different day behind the walls of national borders and political policies; because it is one of the firm principles of the religion that the addressee of Shari’ah rulings is the ‘Ummah’ and not the ‘nation’, and Islam is a global religion that transcends borders.

Unfortunately, this same deviant “nation-state” mentality that today overshadows the Islamic world has not only separated the day of Eid, but also, based on this insular thinking and nationalistic policies, today the Islamic Ummah has failed to aid the oppressed in Gaza; the blood of the Muslims of Kashmir is being ignored; and East Turkestan has been left to its own fate. Even the expulsion of oppressed Afghan refugees by Iran and Pakistan from Islamic lands, without observing Shari’ah rulings and humanitarian considerations, stems from this same un-Islamic, nationalistic worldview.

Therefore, the only way to be saved from these divisions, confusions, and ongoing injustices in the Islamic world is to establish the second Righteous Caliphate upon the method of the Prophethood—a state that would gather the Ummah around the axis of the Islamic creed and the Shari’ah ruling and form a single rank from Indonesia to Morocco, from the Caucasus to Yemen, from Afghanistan to Palestine, and one of the greatest days of joy for the Ummah will be the day when this divine promise of victory, the prophetic glad tidings, and the urgent need of the Ummah are fulfilled and the second Khilafah Rashidah (Righteous Caliphate) is once again established on earth:

[وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ * بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ يَنصُرُ مَن يَشَاءُ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ]

“And on that day the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah; He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Mighty, the Merciful.” [Ar-Rum: 4–5].

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan