ARMM distributes relief for Ramadhan

COTABATO CITY — Local clerics declared May 17 the first day of Ramadhan after failing to see the crescent moon yesterday night that would have signaled its start on Wednesday.

The Ramadhan, a holy month in Islam where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for one lunar cycle as a religious obligation and as reparation for wrongdoings, would have started Wednesday had they spotted the moon the night before.

The Darul Iftah (House of Opinions) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao announced before midnight Tuesday that the Ramadhan shall commence on Thursday. The group, comprised of moderate preachers who studied Islamic theology in schools in the Middle East and North Africa, urged ARMM residents to get involved in domestic peace initiatives during the Ramadhan.

ShiekAbu Huraira Udasan, grand mufti (preacher) of the Bangsamoro Darul Iftah, which is identified with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also declared Thursday as the start of this year's Ramadhan.

Fasting during the month of Ramadhan is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, which include belief in Allah, praying five times daily, giving of zakat (alms) to the poor, and performing the hajj to Makkah, Saudi Arabia at least once if one can afford the cost of travel.

Ramadhan is also a time when Muslims share more food to needy neighbors regardless of religion and race. The ARMM regional government began distributing on Tuesday rice and other food rations to hundreds of Maranao families displaced by the May 23 to October 16, 2017 siege of Marawi City by Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

The distribution is part of the regional government Ramadhan outreach missions.

The program is being facilitated by ARMM's Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team, most known as HEART, whose personnel departed for Marawi City Tuesday bringing with them more than 20 tons of relief goods.