There is growing fear among Muslims in Liberia, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire that the observance of this year’s Eid-El-Adha (also known as “Tabaski” or “Abraham's Day”), which falls on this Friday, October 26, could be ominous for the leaders of their respective countries, especially their heads of state.
This expressed fear is entrenched in a notion especially held by Muslims in the above countries that “double sermons” should not be preached on the same day. Thus, with this year's Eid El-Adha occurring on a Friday, which also happens to be a normal prayer day in the religion, a second service of worship is expected that day.
This widely-held belief is said to have originated in Liberia and apparently spread to neighboring countries. In Cote d'Ivoire, sources say discussions are ongoing between President Ouattara and Ivoirian Islamic leaders to possibly move the feast day to Saturday, October 27, in order to allay fears of the Muslim masses.
The imam of the Gurley Street General Mosque in Monrovia last Friday attempted to clear the air among believers by stating that “nowhere in the Holy Qur’an does it say that when an Islamic feast falls on a Friday and that, if double sermon are preached, something bad will happen to the sitting president of a country. In fact, it’s a double blessing, instead of an evil,” the imam continued. “It pleases Allah that He’s being worshiped on different fronts on that day.”
Still, many worshipers received the imam's assurance with mixed reactions following last Friday's prayer, although some sighed with relief, thankful that “indeed the air has been cleared on this matter by the imam.” However, others find it very difficult letting go of such myth in spite of the scriptural references pointed out by the imam.
The questions then that arose were: What prevents the majority of Muslims from going ahead and doing their independent research in the Qur’an to clarify such a claim? Where did such a belief originate and what may have caused it to spread so widely? What could be done to promote clarity in religious beliefs and avoid such a situation from re-occurring?
Sheikh Kafumba F. Konneh, a renowned Islamic cleric in Liberia, traced the origin of this belief back to the 1960s.
“It all started here in Liberia when an attempt was made to build another Friday congressional mosque in the 1960s. The matter was referred to the late President Tubman, [informing him] that it was not good to have two mosques in the same city, to preach two separate sermons in that city. When the matter was brought to the President, he said ‘Well, I went to Indonesia and in the city, I found more than one mosques which deliver more than one sermons on Fridays. If nothing has happened to the president of that country, then I don’t think it will affect me either,” Sheikh Kafumba Konneh narrated to the Daily Observer in an exclusive interview on Monday.
There are some mosques that are only dedicated to the five daily prayers. Friday congregational prayers, or Jumah, are not held in such mosques. Whenever is it time for the Jumah prayer, such mosques are closed with all members of their congregation urged to head to the mosques where the Jumah prayers would be held.
Sheikh Konneh described the widely-held myth as “only a baseless notion that when an Eid day falls on a Friday, to preach the [regular] Friday sermon and the Eid sermon will bring trouble to the leadership of a country.”
“It is not true. It is nowhere in the Holy Qur’an; it is nowhere in the tradition of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW). In fact, in Mecca, the cradle of Islam, they preach both the Jumah sermon and the Eid sermon, whether or not the Eid day were to fall on a Friday. So it is not true,” he further clarified.
Yet, the myth has grown deep roots in communities across the sub-region, especially in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia. The Islamic cleric suspects that it might have some political undertones to it. “This same mentality has been looming everywhere across these societies. Sometimes, they put fear in the politicians with that kind of language because every politician would like to see him or herself appreciated. But that notion is not Islamic,” he continued.
Sheikh Konneh went further to expound on the entrenched role of African tradition in the Islamic religion, making specific reference to the seventh and fortieth day sacrifices performed by Muslims the world over, in honor of the dead.
“People have brought [African] tradition into the religion. Similar to this double sermon notion, which is nothing but a superstition, are the seventh day and fortieth day sacrifices that we have for the dead. Those are not Islamic. They are only African tradition. This seventh day and fortieth day sacrifices was a tradition in Africa that has now been blended with the Islamic religion.
“During these sacrifices, people kill cows, cook elaborate dishes and have festivals. And in Islam, you don’t even have festivals in the matter of death. You mourn for three days and the bereaved family is visited by their fellow Muslims and, after those three days, there should be nothing more.”
He said these notions have gained more grounds because people could not have gone to do any independent research on these matters because it they are nowhere in the Qur’an.
“These are things that came out of baseless information; they are superstitious,” noted the Sheikh.
According to Sheikh Konneh, what leaders of the Islamic faith “are doing is to continue to preach and encourage religious literacy among our fellow Muslims.”
However, he noted the role of tradition as a major barrier to achieving this goal, “since people are so-rooted in their traditional beliefs which they bring with them to the religion.”
“We are, however, telling people what Islamic principles are and those things that are superstitious so that they can know where to draw the line in between,” he added.
On this Friday, Muslims worldwide will be celebrating Eid El-Adha, locally known as “Abraham’s Day.” The festival is in honor of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as an act of obedience to God, before he was asked to sacrifice a sheep.
The sacrifice symbolizes obedience to Allah and its distribution to others is an expression of generosity, one of the five pillars of Islam. Also known as the ‘Festival of Sacrifice’, Muslims observe the day by slaughtering animals and then offering much of the meat in charity to poor people.
Eid El-Adha marks the end of the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca which is one of the greatest religious activities in Islam. The festival falls on the 10th day of the Dul Hijja, the last month of Islamic calendar.
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