Local muslim communities to begin Ramadan Wednesday

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – Central Mindanao’s Darul Iftah declared July 10 (Wednesday) as the start of the Ramadan fasting season after scholars failed to see the new moon the past two nights in a centuries-old moon-sighting tradition in determining the advent of the “holy month” where Muslims fast at daytime for one lunar cycle.

The Darul Iftah is also known as “House of Opinions,” with an oversight group of Muslim theologians.

Ustadz Jaafar Ali, a senior member of the Darul Iftah, said local Muslim communities have to start fasting from dawn to dusk on July 10.

Physically-fit Muslims are obliged to abstain from food and drinks from dawn to dusk during the Ramadan season, which lasts for 28 to 29 days. The Ramadan comes after the Islamic month of Shaban in the Hijrah calendar.

Fasting during the Ramadan is one of the so-called “five pillars” of the Islamic faith, which include absolute belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing the west, going at least once in a lifetime to Mecca, Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj, and giving of zakat (alms) to the poor. Muslims focus on good deeds and reparations for wrongdoings during the fasting season.

Muslims believe it was during Ramadan when Allah first sent Archangel Gabriel to reveal to Mohammad the latter's mission of spreading a faith that was to become known as Islam, which literally means peace.

Islamic history books tell of successes of Mohammad’s Army in defending their lands, people and religion from superior pagan armies that tried to conquer them as they began spreading in the ancient Arabian lands in what are now independent Muslim countries in the Middle East. Warfare is prohibited during the Ramadan as a general rule.

“Practically provoking wars, starting conflicts over anything is a sin in Islam. All misunderstandings have to be resolved peacefully through consensus-building among Muslims, or between Muslims and non-Muslims. That was taught to us by Prophet Mohammad by his examples and teachings handed down from generations to generations. Sadly there are extremists destroying that tradition,” said human rights lawyer Anwar Malang, newly-appointed local government secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Malang’s office has enjoined all local government units in the autonomous region to  adhere to the rulings of the Darul Iftah and help the police maintain law and order to ensure a peaceful observance of Ramadan.

The autonomous region, home to more than two million Filipino Muslims, covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in Central Mindanao, the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan and Marawi.

The Darul Iftah has warned Muslims in the country to refrain from “religious innovations” that can alter the manner of observing the Ramadan as taught by Mohammad. - John Unson