MARAWI CITY: Islamic religious authorities all over the world will view the new moon on Friday evening to determine whether the fasting month of Ramadan will end on Saturday.
In the Philippines, Ulama (Muslim religious learned scholars) will conduct the new moon sighting in various areas of the country. If the new moon is seen, it indicates the end of Ramadan and Salatul Eid’l Fitr will be performed the following morning which is the first day of the next month, Shawwal, in the Hijrah.
Bangsamoro Grand Mufti Abuhuraira Udasan, head of the Darul Ifta (House of Opinion) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said if the crescent moon appears on Friday night, fasting ends on Saturday.
“If not, then the month of Ramadan will officially end on Sunday with the celebration of Eid’l Fitr,” Udasan told reporters.
This year’s Ramadan has been the most subdued in the century and Eid’l Fitr celebrations will be the loneliest among the Muslim Filipinos. There is no mass congregation, no social gathering, and no festivity as commonly practiced during this Muslim’s holy month due to restrictions imposed by the national task force against the Coronavirus disease.
To the Muslims, fasting means abstaining from food and drink as well as carnal desires from dawn to dusk. The should instead do prayers and charity works. They can break their fast from dusk to dawn. Fasting is obligated upon able Muslims.
On May 19, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 944 declaring Monday, May 25, a national regular holiday in observance of Eid’l Fitr.
Udasan reiterated the Darul Ifta’s guidelines for faithfuls to avoid congregational prayers in compliance with the directive of the National Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19.
“Congregational prayers in open spaces remain suspended,” Udasan said in the vernacular.
Instead, he encouraged all Muslims to pray in their homes to celebrate the end of the fasting month.
MASIDING NOOR YAHYA
The Ranao Star 