The Ghanaian Minaret

Kumasi: Sheikh Dr Tawfiq Abdul Rahman Kulusey, a Sunni Muslim scholar, has called out the leadership of the Ahlussunna wal Jama’a (ASWAJ) sect for over-relying on moon sighting in the Arab kingdom of Saudi Arabia to begin and end Ramadan fast.

The top cleric at the Nurul Ameen Masjid in Kumasi alleged that the sect’s Hilal Committee did not embark on any mission to sight the crescent moon locally when Saudi Arabia announced the sighting of the Shawwal crescent, which signified the end of the Ramadan fast.

 “As soon as Saudi sights, we don’t even bother to go search for the moon. Wallahi! The Hilal committee of Ahlussunna does not go searching for the moon if Saudi finds the crescent.

“In instances where Ghana sights the moon but Saudi Arabia does not sight the moon, then it becomes a confusion; they say it is a lie. And who are the ones behind this? It is our Ahlussunna scholars,” he said.

Sheikh Kulusey made the remarks in the Hausa language as he delivered the Khutbah of the Eid ul-Fitr prayer that was held at the Dogo Yaro park in Kumasi on Monday.

He advised the Muslim sect to take a cue from other Arab Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which, despite geographical proximity and nearness in time zone to Saudi Arabia, rely on local sightings of the crescent to start and end the Ramadan fast.

He noted the overreliance on Saudi Arabia’s sighting was creating a hurdle to the unity of the Muslim ummah (community) in Ghana, which he said was more paramount than revelling in the legitimacy of celebrating Eid on different dates.

“With a three-hour time zone difference with Saudi Arabia, why are we not interested in unifying the Muslim community in Ghana… Saudi scholars are even demanding that every country should rely on moon sighting within his jurisdiction,” he said.

He also observed that disagreements between members of the Ahlussunna sect in Ghana were far more intense than its disagreement with any other Muslim sect, adding that “70 per cent of the confusion in Ghana on moon sighting comes from the Ahlussunna. The objective of Ahlussunna is not Ghana but a country elsewhere.”

He said Muslim groups must streamline their activities towards the recognition of a single Hilal committee that comprises various Muslim representatives as opposed to the four that currently exist.

It would be recalled that in a statement released on Saturday, March 29, 2025, the leadership of ASWAJ directed regional and district imams to hold Eid prayers on Sunday, March 30, 2025, despite not sighting the Shawwal crescent in Ghana.

The statement, signed by Sheikh Mohammed Zakaria Suleiman Addo, the chairman of the ASWAJ Hilal Committee, indicated that the directive was based on the sighting of the Shawwal crescent by the Moon Sighting Committee of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Office of the National Chief Imam would later declare Monday, March 31, 2025, as the day for celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, as it was unable to sight the crescent locally.