Rights and Wrongs

MUSLIMS worldwide including Muslim Filipinos start today their 30 days of fasting that corresponds to Ramadan 1, 1432 of the Hijrah calendar, as officially announced by the head of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF).

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino 3rd extended his greetings of salaam (peace) to the Muslim Filipino community in the observance of the holy month of Ramadan.

Many Muslim leaders particularly from Mindanao have appealed for unity among Muslims, Christians and lumads in order to attain the elusive peace for Mindanao not only during Ramadan but even beyond.

Secretary Bai Omera Dianalan-Lucman and concurrently the NCMF chief operating officer said that majority of the Muslims throughout the world particularly in Saudi Arabia would start fasting today, a practice that is obligatory for every adult Muslim who is physically fit to perform the fasting from dawn till sunset every time the month of Ramadan comes.

Lucman, quoting a verse from the Holy Koran, reminded the Muslims of their goal in the observance of fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month in the Hegira calendar.

“As we observe this year’s fasting month, we should recall to mind the goal of Ramadan as embodied in the Noble Koran, “O ye believe, Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may learn self-restraint,” she said.

Lucman sent an advance wish for Muslim pilgrims who will be performing their umrah (lesser pilgrimage) in Mecca after Ramadan.

President Aquino, in his message addressed to the Muslim community in the Philippines and sent through the d urged the Muslim faithful to solemnly observe Ramadan.

“Your devotion to perform the essential requisites of Islam, such as the holy fasting, is an inspiring deed that attests to your reverence for the Almighty. Your steadfastness in your sacrifice during the 29 days of Ramadan is also by itself an opportunity for enlightenment,” he said.

“Apart from being a personal quest of faith, Ramadan serves as a representation of peace, as Muslims around the world embody the spirit of solidarity in this moment of glorification. I am thus heartened by how this religious event demonstrates the readiness of Muslims to be humbled by abstinence. I am confident that we remain united by our common endeavor to attain lasting stability,” Mr. Aquino added.

Rep. Tupay Loong of Sulu (First District) and concurrently the chairman of the House Committee on Muslim Affairs said that his constituents among the Tausugs of Sulu are also joining the Muslim world in the observance of Ramadan.

“We have made it through in our lifetime in the holy month of Ramadan. It is the moment not only of making physical abstention or observing social or emotional limitations, but above all it is the renewal of our personal and spiritual nourishment not only now but in the years ahead,” Loong said.

Sultan Fuad Kiram, the 35th reigning ruler of the Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah, and also the head of Islam in the sultanate, explained that fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars upon which the structure of Islam is built.

Fasting during Ramadan, the fourth of these pillars, has a particularly high importance, derived from its very personal nature as an act of worship, according to Sultan Fuad.