By Anjum Niaz

"He has made plain to you of the religion what He enjoined upon Nuh and that which We revealed to you, and that which We enjoined upon Ibrahim and Musa and Isa, that keep to obedience and be not divided therein" - The Holy Quran

First the Jews celebrated their Hanukkah, then the Christians ate their turkey on Thanksgiving, and finally the Muslims observed their Eid-ul-Fitr after 30 days of fasting. All the three religious festivals happened one after another.

When lighting the candles on Hanukkah, the Jewish people sang: "Praised are You, Sovereign of the Universe, for granting us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this day."

On Thanksgiving weekend, tens of millions of Americans took to the skies, roads and rails to be with their loved ones and share the year's most-awaited meal - the Thanksgiving dinner. But not before gathering around the table with bowed heads and folded hands in prayer to thank their Creator for His bounties.

A week after, came Eid and the three million American Muslims went to their mosques to pray and later celebrate with food and good cheer. Ramazan had come to an end.

America had been agog with activity. Of religious kind.

Resonating from the souls of all were two simple words "Thank You." Muslims, Jews and the Christians raised their hands in prayer to the one and only God who revealed the Torah, the Bible and the Holy Quran.

Hold on a second - why then the hate, the division, the discord that consumes the ahal-i-kitab (followers of the three divine books)? Why does the Jewish lobby in America, with millions of dollars at its disposal, bring out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times to thank Reverend Pat Robertson for openly abusing our Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) and impugning Islam? Why does President Bush and his right-wing Christian coalition hand out dollops of dollars to men like Jerry Falwell, after they come on TV and utter such trash against Islam and its Messenger?

Never before was the division so sharp as it is today? It's not a clash of civilizations as Huntington would have us believe. It is clash of religions.

At the heart of this axis of evil are the extremists of all the three religions who, with their bigotry, pigheadedness and self-serving ways, want the world divided, troubled and warped in wars until doomsday.September 11 was the inferno that lit up the world and threw up all its ugliness. Innocent Americans killed in the name of jihad (you can argue about the thousands non-Americans killed but not remembered). New York's loveliest gone in minutes leaving behind a gaping black hole where once they stood supreme. The 19 hijackers were the devil incarnate who, in a split second, torched the futures of generations of Muslims to come. Because America will not forget, nor will it ever forgive. And remember, America is the sole superpower! If you still don't agree, then you must be living on another planet.

The final marathon between the Jews on the coattails of America versus the rest of the 1.3 billion Ummah has begun. The start to finish shots were fired by the demented suicide bombers. Fifteen of them Saudis.

So, what's the big deal if in America, the tribes of Moses, Christ and Mohammad celebrate and thank the same God - in succession of each other?

It's about politics. And it's contrary to the above Quranic verses enjoining unity.

Money is the evil. The one with the most greenbacks bankrolled by his powerful and wealthy supporters wins the race. The 'unholy' duo of Jews and Christians is filthy rich, while the Muslim mullahs with Saudis as their financiers comes a close third.

Meanwhile, our clerics (of variegated nationalities) are fighting for their turf and as expected, the beards in America gave a split decision on sighting of the moon.

Helpless, but angry, one had to give in to the dictates of the New York mullahs telling us that instead of Eid, we would have to fast another day or else.... "But...Washington is celebrating Eid tomorrow..." we argued. "Never mind DC...do as you're told", and the crude voice at the other end of the line hung up. The funny thing is that while we pour in our zakat dollars to our Islamic centres, the service we get is pretty pedestrian when it boils down to information. You call and you call, until an irate voice at the other end comes on the phone or often a voice message goes on - it's midnight and yet the moon has not been sighted. And mind you this is America, not Timbuktu!

In my kitchen calendar, I had circled in red Dec 4 as the day we get a new moon. Eid would fall the next day. But no such luck where we live, and it's not even the boondocks! "Please don't take this lightly...it's very serious...you have to see the moon to announce Eid the next day," a Pakistani youth rebukes me, "religion has no boundaries, each community has its independent laws and rules."

"Excuse me...are you saying that people in Washington saw the moon but we in New York/ New Jersey didn't?" I ask. "Sometimes, the moon casts its shadow...it's all about latitudes..." By now I have truly lost him.

Pakistan, a big copycat of Saudi Arabia, parts company when it comes to moon sighting. The smart Saudis go by their own lunar calendar and not squabble amongst each other as to whether the moon was sighted or not.

And sure enough, the Saudis in Washington DC had Eid figured out in advance. Even the Pakistan Embassy fell in line to extract diplomatic mileage and celebrated Eid while we fasted and faced the fury of the first snowstorm.

Khalid Hasan of The Daily Times filed a story from DC on Bush's visit to the Islamic Centre on Eid day. The highlight of the President's visit, according to Hasan, was his interaction with Muslim children from various countries. "The children told him stories, read him poems and proudly showed him their art work. He said he was grateful for the children's hospitality." This was George W's second presidential visit to the centre.

Our very own Ambassador Qazi was reported hosting an Eid open-house in the evening, but I wonder how many of his guests braved the raging snowstorm that left one million Americans without electricity and killed over two dozen people.

When the next day dawned, and it was our turn to celebrate Eid, the sun in all its glory lit up the snow-laden landscape, reflecting divinely a radiance spreading as far as the naked eye could see. Granted, the naked eye failed to spot the sliver of the Eid moon - or even its shadow, but what one got in return was the most beautiful day of the winter season.

In the aftermath of an angry snowstorm, what we got was a royal blue sky in the company of a sun, stunning beyond belief with a pure snow-white blanket adorning delicately the bare branches or lacing the teal of the fir and the pines with miles and miles of surreal white.

Our mosque offered the traditional halwa puri wrapped in foil to the faithful who came for Eid prayers. A small gesture, but the best eidee for a Pakistani with a kitchen really not geared to produce sheer khurma for Eid breakfast!