Sunni party opposes proposal to make Eid al-Ghadir official holiday

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni political party, expressed its opposition on Wednesday to a proposal to make Eid al-Ghadir an official holiday in the country.

"The proposal to make Eid al-Ghadir an official holiday does not meet the needs of Iraq today," the party's political bureau said in a statement today.

The statement added that this "occasion has its own specificity for one component over another, and will reproduce a cycle of action and reaction that does not serve the supreme national interest."

On April 24, the Iraqi parliament announced that it had received a draft law for "Eid al-Ghadir holiday" from Lawmaker Burhan al-Mamouri, in response to a call from Sadrist movement leader, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Shiite Muslims celebrate Eid al-Ghadir on the 18th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah of each year. According to Shiite narratives, the 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah is the day on which the Prophet Muhammad delivered a sermon and appointed Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib as the wali (guardian) of the Muslims after him. Shiites believe that the Prophet had announced Ali as his successor during the Muslims' return from the Farewell Pilgrimage to Medina in a place called "Ghadir Khum" in the year 10 AH corresponding to 631 AD.