By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

The day was Saturday, 30 July 2011, the time 9.14am. My journey from Abuja to Kano was abruptly stopped at Sabuwar Gayan, some 5 kilometers to the old Kaduna tollgate. On enquiry, I learnt that it was due to the monthly Environmental Sanitation Day, when Nigerians are expected to stay home and clean their surroundings for three hours before they are allowed to resume their daily activities at 10.00am. I was not alone at the Federal Highway. Possibly, thousands of vehicles filled the dual carriage way over a distance of five kilometers between the village and the tollgate. And before the road was opened, hundreds more lined up behind me. We were not in our homes so we had nothing to clean. We remained idle until 10.00am.

By Shaikh (Dr) Haitham Al-Haddad

In any case, they are unable to provide a practical and workable alternative. The suggestion for Muslims in the UK and other European countries to establish their own moon-sighting has proven over the years to be both an impractical and a non-approachable solution for numerous reasons. Muslims in the UK for example have not agreed on any one organisation to represent them in this issue due to their wide and diverse nature.