What does Eid al-Fitr have to do with the destruction of a UNESC0 World Heritage site?
Palmyra Update: What will remain after Eid al-Fitr?
Franklin Lamb
The National Museum, Damascus
The Muslim religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr, also known as the "Feast of the breaking of the Fast" marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and is the single day during on which Muslims are not permitted to fast. Muslims celebrate the end of fasting and thank Allah for divine help with their 29 or 30 days long act of self-control.
Depending on cloud covers, time zones, antipathy among competing religious sects, whether a respected religious leader uses binoculars, a telescope, satellite imagining, or his naked eyes ( Da'ish (ISIS), since 5/21/2015 in control of and now destroying parts of Palmyra, credits only naked eyes). Whether the chosen "moon watcher" will be peering skyward from Saudi Arabia or its religious and political nemesis Iran, or from somewhere else, the first sighting of the crescent moon this Ramadan month could fall shortly after sunset on Friday July 16, or 17. Or in North America, on July 18th. Its depends. Sunni and Shia do not always agree on hundreds of Koranic interpretations but sometimes they do agree on the dates for the beginning and end of Ramadan.
The year, the date is unusually important to many for other reasons. According to Da'ish (ISIS) members and even a spokesman, who seem increasingly willing to discuss their seemingly inextricably intertwined religious-political views with confessed heretics like this observer, Ramadan requires a month of accelerated attacks on Islam's enemies. Hence the urgent need for thousands of new recruits willing to become "martyrs" and join a campaign employing various forms of purification and revenge to be visited upon perceived heretics and non-believers. This years Ramadan plan includes the destruction of pagan relics and burial sites and the blowing up of Shia and Sufi shrines (even if the relics are venerated by fellow Sunni Muslims). Sufi are despised by the Salafis who make up Da'ish (ISIS) , al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda and literally scores of similar groups.
On 6/23/2015, the Da'ish (ISIS) media company Al-Furqan released an audio recording by ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani. In it, Al-'Adnani congratulates Muslims on the commencement of Ramadan, the "month of conquests", he adds. He calls upon them to join the jihad and attain martyrdom. He focuses on the Shi'ite's ill-treatment of Sunnis and the claimed Shi'ite's danger to Sunnis in other Arab countries. Da'ish has been publishing in Palmyra and elsewhere lists the various alleged crimes committed by Shi'ites against Sunnis, while call on the latter to join ISIS in the face of the enumerated threats.
On 6/20/2015, Da'ish (ISIS), according to a reliable source in the 2000 years old cultural heritage site Palmyra, has sent its militiamen to launch its local cultural heritage cleansing campaign. Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim, Director-General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria confirmed that it was that date when ISIS jihadists blew up the tombs of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed's cousin, and scholar Nizar Bahaa Eddine adding that "IS has destroyed at least 50 mausoleums dating between 100-200 years old in the regions under its control in north and east Syria."
Early 6/24/2015, this observer was able to confirm from a claimed eye-witness via Skype, a report of the destruction of the Bahaa Eddine shrine that was built during the early 14th Century to honor the scholarship of a Sufi religious scholar from Palmyra. Sufis consider themselves to be the original true proponents of this pure form of Islam and trace many of their original precepts from the Prophet Muhammad either through his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib, or through his companion and friend Abu Bakr.
