A prominent Sokoto-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Musa Lukuwa, on Thursday led his congregation in Eid al-Fitr prayers, openly disregarding the directive of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, who had fixed Friday as the day for the celebration across Nigeria.
Lukuwa, who is renowned in Sokoto for his strict adherence to his interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence on moon sighting, converged with his followers at his Juma’at mosque to perform the two raka’at Eid prayer despite the Sultan’s announcement that the Shawwal crescent was not sighted in Nigeria on Wednesday.
The Sultan, who is also the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, had on Wednesday evening declared that Thursday would complete 30 days of Ramadan, with Eid-el-Fitr to be observed nationwide on Friday, March 20, 2026.
The cleric’s decision mirrors his previous controversial stance in past years, when he similarly led Eid prayers ahead of the official date over disagreements on the sighting of the Shawwal moon. His actions have repeatedly ignited debate within the Muslim community on the extent of the Sultan’s religious authority and the place of individual scholars in determining the start and end of lunar months.
While the Sultanate Council, relying on reports from the National Moon Sighting Committee, maintained that there was no credible sighting of the new moon to justify ending the fast on Thursday, Lukuwa and his followers aligned themselves with reports of crescent sighting from neighbouring countries, insisting that it was sufficient basis to observe Eid earlier.
The development has once again underscored lingering divisions over moon-sighting methodology in Nigeria, even as the Sultan urged Muslims to remain united and continue to pray for peace, stability and progress of the country during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
