Muslims in Maguindanao to celebrate Eid'l Fitr amid fear, worry

MAGUINDANAO, Philippi nes  --- Most Muslim residents in the province now look forward to the Eid’l Fitr , but in a mood made somber by mounting threats of attacks by the brigand Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

The Eid’l Fitr, or the culmination of the month-long Ramadan fasting season, will be celebrated on August 9, which was declared a regular holiday by President Aquino.

The Eid’l Fitr is one of the most important religious events in Islam, when Muslims perform congregational thanksgiving prayers in open fields to signify the end of their observance of the Ramadan.

Healthy Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the Ramadan as a religious obligation and as means of strengthening spiritual perfection, through self-restraint and discipline.

“We are fasting now practically under duress. We fast and pray five times a day and worry so much about these bandits. We are worried of them possibly initiating violent activities as the Eid’l Fitr comes near,” a farmer, Motin Usop, said in the Maguindanaon vernacular.

Eid’l Fitr is traditionally celebrated as a day for families to reunite and partake of a banquet to symbolize oneness in faith and as thanksgiving for having surpassed the rigors of fasting as a form of sacrifice, while focusing on good deeds and reparations for wrongdoings.

With guarded optimism, Muslim members of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police are hoping for a safe celebration of the Eid’l Fitr in Maguindanao and in other provinces of ARMM.

“We are hoping these armed lawless groups pestering civilians will respect the forthcoming Eid’l Fitr by not embarking on any maneuver that can badly affect civilians,” said a Muslim officer of the 6th ID, Major Jimmy Matalam.

Matalam said he  does not not understand why the BIFF, which has been trying to show that it is religious in character, has  disregarded the essence of the Ramadan by perpetrating more than a dozen attacks since the fasting season started July 10.

Observing the Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic lunar-based Hijrah calendar, is one of the “five pillars” of the Islamic faith, which include absolute belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing the west, giving of zakat (alms) to the poor, and, for those who can afford the cost of travel, going to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the Hajj for at least once in a lifetime.

Major Abdul Basher Bongcarawan, executive officer of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion, said he is praying for a respite on the hostilities in the province with the approach of the Eid’l Fitr.

Several Muslim families in Maguindanao that are contemplating on donating food to evacuees displaced by man-made and natural calamities that hit the province in recent weeks instead of spending big amounts of money for their Eid’l Fitr celebration next month.

“That is the essence of Islam. It is about doing good to others all times, above anything else, while praising and believing in the greatness and omnipotence of Allah,” said Engineer James Mlok, chief of the second engineering district office of Maguindanao.

Mlok said giving of gifts to the poor, in the form of zakat, or clothes and food, is something Muslims must do every day if they have the means, not just during the Ramadan and when celebrating the Eid’l Fitr.

Mlok said a person’s greatness in Islam can only be measured by acts of piety and goodwill.