By Buba Gagigo
Rawdatul Majalis has declared Sunday as the Day of Arafah, explaining that Arafat is an abstract concept in Islamic jurisprudence and not a physical entity.
“We are not an exception in the world today, there are many countries that are celebrating Eid on Monday. The day presiding Eid is Arafah so our Arafat is on Sunday. Arafah is an abstract notion, it is not physical in Islamic Jurisprudence, I am always referring to jurisprudence.
“A Saudi Imam scholar made a pronouncement on this particular issue to say that Arafah is an abstract notion. If your Arafat is today tomorrow can be my Arafat. How do you determine Arafah? You decide based on your sighting of the moon. We sighted the moon here, I cannot remember the day but based on the calculation our 9th day is Sunday. So that is our Arafah,” Momodou Lamin Yaffa Vice President of Rawdatul Majalis told Kerr Fatou on Saturday.
While the country’s Supreme Islamic Council has announced that Eid in The Gambia will be on Sunday, Rawdatul Majalis has stated they will observe Eid on Monday.