Eid in Missan’s Bedouin areas – authentic traditions based on sharia

MISSAN / IraqiNews.com: Eidul-Fitr has its unique authentic traditions derived from the sharia (Islamic law) in the Bedouin areas of Missan province, inherited from one generation to another despite political and socio-economic transformations experienced by the Missan society. “The Bedouins’ customs all have the spirit of Islam as received from the forefathers and ancestors that by time these customs have turned into standard social habits, including the moon crescent spotting rituals on the last night of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan,” Sheikh Jalal Tarrar al-Khafaji, the chieftain of the Khafaja clan in Missan, told Iraqi News. “After a crescent is spotted, a tribal chief, who represents all spiritual and clan authorities in the isolated nomadic areas, would give orders to stop fasting and start celebrating Eidul-Fitr,” he added. He said despite all the social changes and modern means of communications, the Bedouins remained preserving their own unique sharia -based customs, which do not differ much from those Ramadan and Eidul-Fitr traditions in rural and urban areas. “The Bedouins also make good use of the Eid jubilations to hold engagement and wedding parties in order to have a double joy,” Khafaji noted. On Sunday, the office of top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Monday will be the first day of Eidul-Fitr, the three-day holiday that caps the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The information was also confirmed by the offices of senior Shiite clerics Ayatollahs Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim and Mohammed al-Yaaqubi. Earlier on Saturday (Sept. 19), Sheikh Ahmed Abdulghafour al-Samarraie, the head of the Sunni Endowment board, had announced during a press conference that Sunday was to be the first day of Eidul-Fitr. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani congratulated the Iraqi people over Eidul-Fitr holiday, according to a presidential release. Rasin Dahi al-Khafaji, a local resident of the Ali al-Gharbi district, said the Eid in Missan has its own distinguished customs and traditions for the Bedouins who keep on moveing from one place to another. “When during the last night of Ramadan it is settled that the first day of the Eid would start the following day, the Bedouins gather at the house of the chieftain and shoot fire in the air to notify the adjacent areas on the beginning of the Eid,” he said. Earlier on Sunday (Sept. 20) The preachers in the western Mosul district of Talafar called for settlement of differences and spreading the spirit of endearment and tolerance while others held the political parties and foreign forces responsible for “the disruption of the Iraqi people’s unity”. Sheikh Mohammed Jawwad Mulla, the preacher and imam of Ahl al-Bayt Mosque, called for “investing the blessed days of Eidul-Fitr and seizing the opportunity to stretch the bridges of love, fraternity and cooperation as well as exchanging visits among the different social groups in Talafar. “The Iraqis have never known any sectarian, ethnic or doctrinal sentiments throughout their history. Iraqis have always coexisted in amity and cooperation but some dubious projects have created a split amongst them,” Sheikh Mulla said in his Eid sermon on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sheikh Youssuf al-Djalbi, the imam and preacher of al-Djalbi Mosque in Talafar, warned against “shedding innocent blood and dissemination of malicious rumors and groundless accusations that sow the seeds of sedition and schism”. “Religious duty compels us not to let the Eidul-Fitr go by without settling differences among all,” said Djalbi, the head of the Sunni Endowment in Talafar, calling for “fighting administrative corruption in state institutions”. Talafar lies 60 km northwest of Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, 405 km north of Baghdad. AmR (I) 2