[ppfpooghn]

Assalamu alaykum Fake Shaykh,

Yes. It is the same old confusion year after year. One of the problems is that people attempt to give definitive answers to questions that have no definitive answer. This causes more confusion since it encourages people to believe that there is an answer, when there really is none.

And there is usually no shortage of people claiming to have THE ANSWER. They may do this out of self-aggrandizement or fanatical devotion to someone or some group of people, or simply from personal conviction that they have discovered what has eluded everyone before them.

But there are often two opinions that are of equal validity. Both can be defended so we should not deprecate those who say this or that, simply because they disagree with us.

I actually agree with your arguments and thank you for posting this information.

Still, we ought not to be impatient with people who ask questions, and we ought not to deny others the right to disagree with us. We can cite scholars, and they can cite scholars, and in the end everyone needs to make a decision based on their own understanding of what is best in whichever situation they may find themselves.

I would not like to be responsible for compelling a group of people in China to travel 100 miles to pray Eid in some other town because their local congregation is praying on the 'wrong day,' nor for causing dissension within their community. I can have no knowledge of what goes on in China, in any event.

And would I travel?

No. I would not. I'd pray with my community, even if they prayed on the "wrong" day.

Salaam,


Abu Marwan