Thousands attend Eid al-Fitr prayer at Husainiyyah Baqiyyatullah Zaria, Nigeria

Ahlul Bayt News Agency -  Thousands of Muslims attended the Eid al-Fitr prayer at Husainiyyah Baqiyatullah Zaria on Thursday the 1st of Shawwal 1436 after completing 29 days of fasting.

The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria explained some issues regarding differences in citing of the months in his sermon after the Eid prayer which he called the prayer of hope as certain conditions are not met.

He further said that sultanate in Sokoto deliberately changed the counting of the month of Shaban to suit an agenda of equating month citing in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia as it happened the previous years when a lot of people cited the new month and reported to him but refused to announce deliberately. Even last year the month of Ramadan was ciited in Sokoto and people informed the Sultan whereupon he refused to announce. He only announced it around 1.am in the night after people gathered in his house threatening to set it ablaze should he refused to announce.

The leader of the Islamic Movement further said that last year the eid was celebrated amid agony due to the killings of some people and loved ones by the Nigerian Military on Quds day; some were even tortured to death in the army barrack.

He further says the enemies never gave up as this year too, hundreds were targeted and killed with bomb in Jos, Kano and Zaria; In Zaria alone over 100 were killed majority of them pregnant women who were called in to conduct their screening for them go back to their houses and rest.

He expressed that none can do such a crime expect a people whose Qur’an says regarding them ‘Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder…….’

He described with dismay and unfortunate how the blame was shifted on whom the enemies of Islam and Muslims called jihadists to ridicule Islam.

Such crimes are only committed by those who see Muslims and everyone else as enemies; they are the killers on Quds day procession last year, the sheikh concluded.