Ramadan in BARMM begins on March 10

COTABATO CITY: The Muslim holy month of Ramadan will start in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Sunday, March 10.

The date was agreed upon during a meeting with the Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta’on March 1, which was spearheaded by Bangsamoro Mufti Sheikh Abdulrauf Guialani.

Sheikh Guialani said the meeting was attended by Ulama leaders and representatives from the religious sector. He said the group agreed that the moon sighting shall be observed in different designated places in the region on Sunday.

Imam Yasser of Iligan City said for the moon to be visible, the crescent must set after the sun. This allows the sky to be dark enough to spot the small slither of the new moon.

After the sun sets on the night of March 10, the 29th of Shaaban month in the Hijri calendar, moon sighters face west with a clear view of the horizon for the first glimpse of the crescent moon.

Another religious leader of Marawi City, former governor of Lanao del Sur Aleem Mostaqbal Manalao, said that if the moon is sighted on March 10, the month of Ramadan begins with the first fasting day on Monday, March 11.

Moon sighting is a Muslim tradition or religious event that has run for thousands of years across the world, where scanning the night sky for the first glimpse of a crescent moon heralds the start of Ramadan.

Islam follows the Lunar or Hijri calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon cycle and has 354 days, unlike the solar or Georgian calendar that the rest of the world follows. Hence, the month of Ramadan is 10 or 11 days earlier every year.

Muslims across the world will inevitably see the new moon at different times and then start fasting as ordered by Allah.

Accordingly, the moon might appear in the sky for a short period, sometimes visible only for a few minutes.

Observers are required to be in position during that window in a remote location that is open, free of visual pollution and on high ground.

For Muslims, Ramadan is a time for increased worship, charity, good deeds and spending more time with the Holy Quran.

In the Bangsamoro region, the office of the chief minister has yet to release a memorandum, adjusting the work schedule of government employees.