Ramadan to start on April 24

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Muslims in the country will start observing Friday the Ramadan season without nightly taraweeh prayer rites in mosques to ensure their safety from the deadly coronavirus.

The Darul Iftah, or House of Opinions, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, announced Wednesday night that the Ramadan, a holy month in Islam, shall start Friday, April 24.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the Ramadan that lasts for one lunar cycle as a form of sacrifice and to learn the importance of self-restraint in achieving spiritual perfection.

BARMM’s grand mufti (preacher) Abu Huraira Udasan, figurehead of the Darul Iftah, and members of the bloc, on Thursday cautioned Muslims against converging in large groups for the nighttime Ramadan taraweeh prayers in keeping with COVID-19 quarantine protocols.

The collegial Darul Iftah is comprised of Islamic theologians from across the Bangsamoro region, among them graduates of religious schools in Egypt, in Libya and in other countries in the Middle East and in North Africa.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the “five pillars” of the Islamic faith that includes belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing the direction of Makkah in Saudi Arabia, giving of “zakat” (alms) to the poor and, for the financially-capable, performing the hajj (pilgrimage) at least once in a lifetime.

Bangsamoro Chief Minister Hadji Murad Ebrahim urged Thursday the residents of the region’s five provinces to include in their supplications an immediate end to the COVID-19 pandemic each time they pray during the Ramadan.

“Sometimes trials come our way for us to bounce back as better persons after every hardship,” Ebrahim said.

The BARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao Del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Muslims also focus on reconciliation, good deeds and reparations for wrongdoings during the Ramadan, one of the 12 months in the lunar-based Islamic Hijrah calendar.

Ramadan is from the Arabic word ramad, which can either mean scourging heat, or flame, or light.

Muslims believe it was during Ramadan when Allah sent down Archangel Gabriel to tell Mohammad, now touted as the “messenger,” to propagate Islam.