The decision to gazette Friday April 21 as a national public holiday to mark Idd-ul-Fitr has ruffled feathers as a section of Muslims took issue with the move by Interior CS Kithure Kindiki.
Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) Chairman Hassan Ole Naado told Nation.Africa that the decision by government is confusing Kenya's Muslim faithful and reckons the decision should be purely based on sighting on the moon.
He added that the decision is a big gamble for the government because it is not assured that the crescent moon will appear on the same day to mark the end of the holy month of fasting. He also reckons that the end of Ramadhan should only be pronounced by the Chief Kadhi and not those in State authority.
“I urge our Muslim brothers and sisters to stick to our religious norm of sighting of the moon and not declaration by the government. This is confusing and some people more so those in the rural areas may just follow and break their fast on Friday even if the moon is not sighted," he said.
“The government should have consulted Muslims before making the decision. The safest way to have done it was to draft the holiday after the 30th day. This is a big mistake and misleading,” he added.
Ramadhan always ends on the 29th or 30th day depending on the sighting of the moon. This means that if the crescent moon doesn't appear on Thursday, Muslims in Kenya will continue fasting on Friday even though the government has already declared it a public holiday.
Mr Ole Naado’s sentiments were echoed by a section of Muslims in the country who took to social media to question the government's motive in declaring Friday a holiday.
Earlier in the week, Deputy Chief Kadhi Sukhyan Omar wrote to all Kadhis across the country to engage in searching and sighting of the crescent moon. He said announcement on the sighting of the moon will only be done after thorough verifiability.
