April fool on a different perspective

Right now I'm damn busy to write any posts... But I was called by my self conscience to make a simple analysis about this story. I think the society needs to know both side of the story behind April the 1st and evaluate it themselves about the plausibility of these seemingly conflicting historical facts

Back in Malaysia, I was educated with predominantly conservative Muslim education. Non Muslim celebrations are not encouraged for us Muslims to celebrate . It is in the Hadeeth Al Bukhary that Muslims are not supposed to follow the culture of the Yahood and The Nasara.

al-Bukhari relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "Truly, you shall follow the ways of those who were before you, span by span, and little by little, until, if they were to enter a lizards lair, you would follow them." We said, "O Messenger of Allah, the Jews and Christians?" And he said, "Who else?" (Sahih al-Bukhari. 9 vols. Cairo 1313/1895. Reprint (9 vols. in 3). Beirut: Dar al-Jil, n.d., 9.126: 7320).

About April fools day, there are two conflicting stories about it. The first one is what I always hear and read when I was in Malaysia.It is about the fall of the Moor empire or also known as Islamic Andalus/Umayyad empire. And the second one is the "european version" of the story about the changing of the Christian calendar year.

Lets look at it one by one

It has been decades since the Islamic Empire flourished in Granada only to be fooled by the Nasara that resulted in the fall of the empire. The citizens of the empire were forced to seek shelter in their homes. Alot of them were killed including men, women and children.

The Muslims were told by the Nasara that they could leave their homes and bring their necessities to take a ship and sail to seek refuge. Although there were elements of doubt that this was a trick, the Muslims just got along with it

After the Muslims left home for the ships,, the Nasara ransacked their homes and then set fire to them. Before the Muslims got to the ships, the Nasara had set fire to the ships as well. The Crusaders then attacked the Muslims and killed them all.

This version of the story is my adaptation prominently from Ust. Nordin bin Bayadi Bahagian Penerangan dan Penerbitan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor

see JAIS's website

http://www.jais.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=571&Itemid=1

Now lets turn to another "Version"

Mohd Tariq Ghazi, a veteran journalist and historian postulate that Muslims are not that stupid and the story about Muslims being fooled on the 1st April is a hoax. There were no documented historical fact. These kind of stories were just told mouth to mouth without any concrete evidence.

Actually the Nasara did got hold of the Moorish Muslim empire, but not by fooling them. In fact, the Nasara revered the Muslim for their intelligence and sophistication although they do regard them(the Muslims) as "ïnfidels". It was just by sophisticated and modern weapon and war strategy and of course by the will of God that the nasara won the war . This happened on 2nd of January 1492 when the Nasara army marched to Granada.And the actual date that we as Muslims should remember is 1st January when the Umayyad empire fell. Note that by remembering is not doing violent acts but to Strive and work hard for superiority in human and social capital.

Another story was during the reign of King Charles the IX, when he shifted the new year from April the 1st to January the 1st. During that time, there were no e-mails or Morse code, just snail mail by foot or horse..... so, not everybody received the news. The ones who didnt receive the news still celebrate new year on 1st april and they were called fools because of their outdatedness

If you guys wanna dig deeper here's the link incase what i've digested is incorrect

http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_901_950/truth_about_april_fool.htm

Both resources are pretty reliable. The first one is from JAIS (Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor) and the second is from Islamic Research Foundation international. However, its not that I'm undermining the words of an Ustaz but I do wish that he state references and sources from his stories because the article from Islamic research institute have reference and historical dates .

Again, i'm stating..... I'm just looking at April 1st at another perspective and not judging the plausibility of the story. I mean, who am I to judge?

Lastly i would like to repeat this

al-Bukhari relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "Truly, you shall follow the ways of those who were before you, span by span, and little by little, until, if they were to enter a lizards lair, you would follow them." We said, "O Messenger of Allah, the Jews and Christians?" And he said, "Who else?" (Sahih al-Bukhari. 9 vols. Cairo 1313/1895. Reprint (9 vols. in 3). Beirut: Dar al-Jil, n.d., 9.126: 7320).

I think the Moral of this Hadeeth is that, we need our own stand and identity. No need to follow other culture (in terms of celebration) and all the bad stuff. However I think it doesn't hurt to follow others cultures in terms of working hard, ethics and awareness towards the environment