Today is Eid... Or is it?

At-Tirmidhî reported that Abû Hurayrah said the Prophet (SAW) said:

"When the first night of Ramadhan comes, the Shaytan and evil jinns are chained up. The gates of Hell are closed and not one of them is opened. The gates of Paradise are opened and not one of them is closed."

This hadith got me thinking: If Muslims can't unite on deciding when Eid is, then how does Shaytan (the devil) know when he's to be released?

Let me put it another way. Can you imagine Allah (SWT) saying to Shaytan:

"Right Iblis, you're free to go to Oxford, Birmingham and Blackburn because fasting finishes for most of them today. BUT YOU MUST NOT GO TO Manchester, Scotland and Pakistan because they're still fasting. You can also go after the Sunni Iraqis, but not the Shi'ite ones. Oh, and didn't I tell you? You were free to visit Libya yesterday."

I'm pretty sure this isn't the case. Eid Al-Fitr is on ONE day, and ONE day only. And Shaytan will be released on ONE day to the whole of the world. More importantly, if we decide it is Eid on the wrong day, then it is very possible that either we end up fasting on a day we should be celebrating, (which in itself is forbidden,) or celebrating on a day we should be fasting. A scary thought isn't it? After all those fasts, we end up missing the day to celebrate getting through it.

So, when deciding when you're going to celebrate Eid, then remember the importance of your decision. And finally, bear in mind that the early Muslims, who did not have the technology we do today to spot the new moon, were able to unanimously agree on when the beginning of Ramadhan/Eid was. Therefore, I don't believe we have any excuse to be so disunited in such an important aspect of our religion.

Anyway, to everyone, whenever you may be celebrating, a HUGE EID MUBARAK! May Allah (SWT) accept all your fasts, prayers and endeavours to please Him throughout this holiest of months and Insha'Allah for the months to come. Aameen.