Muslims urged to avoid firing guns to usher in Ramadan

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Instead of wasting money on bullets to welcome the start of Ramadan, Muslims should buy gifts to give to the needy, a Muslim cleric said here Wednesday.

“God will reward those who do good; instead of firing guns, donate food and water to your (poor) brothers,” Uztadz Jaafar Ali, leader of the Darul Ifta (House of Opinion), said over the radio.

Ramadan is expected to start on August 1 this year.

Muslims who own guns in Mindanao normally welcome the Ramadan with gunbursts. This practice is believed to ward off evil that would disrupt their fasting.

“That is not true; that’s a myth,” Ali said. “What is true is God gives blessing to those who share their wealth.”

Ali said there are many people suffering from lack of food because they were either very poor or were recently affected by calamities.

“Instead of spending money to buy bullets, why don’t you give that as a gift to our Muslim brothers and sisters, who are poor and victims of calamities?” he said.

Ali said that by not firing their guns, gun-owners would avoid hurting others.

During the previous year, stray bullets hit several people when guns were fired in Moro communities in Mindanao.

Another member of the Darul Iftah, Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim, said the giving of zakat (alms) to the poor was one of the five pillars of Islam.

He said financially able Muslims should help provide food to those who cannot afford it.

Meanwhile, the authorities said security will be unusually tight during the fasting month to prevent untoward incidents from happening.

Director Felicisimu Khu, chief of the Directorate for Police Operations in Western Mindanao, said plainclothes agents will be deployed at public transport terminals and busy spots in Central Mindanao and surrounding provinces as part of the security measures.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, regional director of the police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said policemen will also be fielded “in major entry and exit points in Lanao del Sur, Marawi City and Maguindanao, and in the wharves and airports in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi.”