Gaza weighs heavy as holy month begins
Muslim Kiwi says Ramadan this year will be difficult not knowing fate of loved ones
Muslims in New Zealand looked to the skies last night for the sighting of the new moon to mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of religious fasting.
While traditionally a time of celebration, the lead-up to the Islamic holy month has been difficult and emotional for many Muslims across the world, especially those with ties to Gaza, where bombs continue to fall and many thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, is a month of sacrifice, fasting, prayers and reflection and is the holiest period for Muslims, who will fast from sunrise to sunset until the next sighting of the crescent moon, signifying the holy festival Eid ul Fitr.
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (Fianz) told the Herald the sighting of the moon took place yesterday, “which is the 29th of Sha’ban 1445”.
Sha’ban is the last lunar month before Ramadan.
Corrections officer Mustafa Derbashi, 53, originally from the Palestinian city of Hebron, in the West Bank, has lost several relatives in Gaza and many others remain uncontactable as the brutal war there rages on.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 30,000 Palestinians including 13,000 children have been killed. A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas for Ramadan is looking unlikely.
“This is one of the toughest Ramadan for me, especially with what’s happening in Gaza and not knowing whether some of our friends and loved ones are alive or dead,” said Derbashi, who came to New Zealand in 2001.
“Watching the catastrophe unfold from the outside has been painful and sometimes I feel just so helpless. The death toll keeps rising every day, and I just don’t know how many among them are people I know.”
Derbashi said his fasting would also take a deeper meaning this year and would put him as one with his fellow Palestinians, who have had little to eat for months.
He will be praying, too, for Kiwis, and especially Muslims, to be giving whatever they can to charities during the holy month to help the people of Gaza.
Ramadan is a time to once again reinforce spiritual sincerity, faithful submission, and existential gratefulness in the choices we make in our daily life.
Edwina Pio AUT professor emeritus of diversity
“Giving to charity is one of the pillars of Islam, and we are urged to follow the Prophet to be especially generous during Ramadan,” Derbashi said.
Muslims believe Ramadan is the month when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1400 years ago.
The religious fasting requires abstinence from food, water, smoking and sexual relations during daylight hours to achieve “taqwa” or consciousness of God.
Edwina Pio, AUT professor emeritus of diversity, said historical context, locality, and community relationships intersect in multiple pathways to epitomise Ramadan.
“Ramadan is a time to once again reinforce spiritual sincerity, faithful submission, and existential gratefulness in the choices we make in our daily life,” Pio said.
“The contextualisation of sociocultural dimensions and the quest for voice and belonging is an aspect of the nearly 1.6 billion followers of Islam globally and the approximately 3.6 million mosques in the world.”
Sheikh Mohammed Amir, chairman of the Fianz Hilal or moonsighting committee, said that on confirmation of the moon sighting, an announcement would be issued on the federation’s website and via social media within three hours after sunset.