Press Release
The secular government of Pakistan is once again stopping people from celebrating Eid according to the Hukam of Allah (SWT)

How dare a secular government of Pakistan who has no regard whatsoever for the commandments of Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (saaw) lecture the Ummah on Islam.  This is the same government who helps America in massacring Muslims while violating all Islamic laws. She implements interest-based Capitalist economic system while ignoring Islamic laws on economy and implements British judicial system while ignoring Allah's Hudood laws.  This is a government which claims that Islam is just a personal matter then why is it that a secular government like Pakistan deemed it necessary to interfere in the religious matters of the masses?  Actually the objective behind government's keen interest in this matter and the imposition of its opinion over the people with force is not to enforce Islamic laws rather the objective is to further divide the Ummah.  In 1924 when imperialists destroyed the Khilafah "Caliphate" they gave each group of Muslims a separate country, a distinct flag and a unique national anthem so that they should identify themselves with this new identity rather than Islam so that their political and military strength and unity of the Ummah may be destroyed.  Similarly each state was also given a separate "moon" and a committee for moon-sighting to even fracture their religious unity.  As a result a moon sighted in Pakistan was no longer acceptable in Afghanistan even though if the moon was seen few kilometres across the Durand Line.  Similarly Iran's sighting was not acceptable for Pakistan and Iraq's sighting was no good for Saudi Arabia even though that the Shariah completely rejects these boundaries drawn up by the imperialists and declares Muslim nation as one Ummah with one Eid.  Allah (SWT) says in Qur'an: "Truly! this, Your Ummah is one Ummah, and I am Your Lord, Therefore Worship Me (Alone)."

Every year the government of Pakistan forces the people to reject the moon-sighting of the Muslims across the world and start the Ramadhan a day later while forcing them to fast on the day of Eid.  Hence from the government's perspective this issue is not a Shar'i matter rather it is a political matter whose objective is to give fuel to the divisive nationalistic feelings to the citizens of each Muslim country. The justification concocted in this regard is that since moon was not sighted in Pakistan hence we are not bound to celebrate Eid whereas the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saaw) obliges us to start and end the month of Ramadhan if the moon is sighted by a Muslim anywhere in the world.  The Messenger of Allah (saaw) said: 

"You (all) Fast when it (moon) is sighted and you (all) breakfast when it (moon) is sighted and if it is overcast then complete term of thirty days of Sha'ban"

Hence the Hukam Shar'i is not that every Muslim should sight the moon himself or that each city or an area should have a separate sighting rather the Hukam Shar'i is that the evidence of moon-sighting by a Muslim is enough for all Muslims. Furthermore there is no evidence in Islam which stipulates Muslims to start or end the month of Ramadhan with Saudi Arabia or any specific country.  The government is intentionally raising the issue of Saudi Arabia to further confuse the matter.  The fact is that like other problems existing in the Muslim Ummah this matter is also due to the connivance of our Muslim agent rulers with the imperialists and the non existence of central leadership of the Muslims in the form of Khilafah "Caliphate".  The Ummah should establish the Khilafah "Caliphate" so that along with the protection of life and property of the Muslims their aqeedah and their worships may be protected.

Naveed Butt
The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan