Muslims: Happy Ramadan fasting

“RAMADAN Al-Mubarak” which means “happy fasting” is how Muslims greet each other and welcome the holy month of Ramadhan which started yesterday after sunset.

In Lapu-Lapu City, Jason “Itaw” Daligdig, 42, president of one of three Muslim organizations in barangay Basak, said that in the next 29 to 30 days, they will fast during the day and eat at night.

An exception is made for those who are sick, travelling and menstruating women.

Muslims are obliged to pray in the mosque five times a day during Ramadan.

According to Commissioner Esmael Ebrahim, chairman of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos’ moon-sighting committee, the sighting of the new moon as a determining factor on the start of Ramadan was based on how Muslim scholars interpreted a declaration of the Prophet Muhammad in the Hadith (Tradition).

Ramadan falls on the 10th month of the Hejra Lunar Calendar. /Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza and Inquirer