Ramadan officially on

Filipino Muslims bow down to Allah outside Mindanao’s first ever pink mosque at Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province, as they observe the start of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Devotees of Islam are expected to abstain from food, drinks and other physical needs during daylight hours. The fast is one of the five pillars of Islam, which also include the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. JEOFFREY MAITEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Filipino Muslims officially begin observing today the fasting month of Ramadan, according to a decree issued by the Dharul Ifta (House of Opinion) here late Friday.

The Dharul Ifta said efforts to sight the moon with the naked eye failed on Friday evening. The moon sighting was to determine if the dawn-to-dusk observance of abstinence would start yesterday, Saturday.

But because the moon was not sighted, the collegial body of scholars and clerics decided on Sunday, today, as the start of the fasting activities.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Hijra calendar. Because of the cycles of the lunar phases on which the calendar is based, the Muslim fasting period varies each year by approximately 11 days from the solar-based Gregorian calendar.

Ustadz Jaafar Ali, an associate scholar of the House of Opinion here, said the rule is that if the new moon was not visible on the last day of Sa’aban (the eighth lunar month), then fasting starts on the following day.

Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, abstaining from food and water after suhur, the predawn meal.

Fasting is called sawm in Arabic and is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Aside from food and drink, Muslim couples refrain from sexual contact during the day-long fast.

Families and friends then gather for the iftar meal to break the fast after more than 14 hours. Many Muslims begin the meal by eating dates, the naturally preserved fruit of the biblical palm date. Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao 

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