 |
|
Asian
Muslims buying nuts and dried fruits for Ramadan
|
By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent
KUALA
LUMPUR, November 5 (IslamOnline) – South East Asian Muslims will start
fasting Wednesday, November 6, 2002, sources in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta
said Tuesday, November 5, after the official sighting of the crescent
moon.
In
Kuala Lumpur, the official sighting of the moon ended late in the
evening without the new moon announcing the beginning of the fasting
month. Following this sighting, it is now confirmed that Ramadan starts
Wednesday in Malaysia, a largely Muslim nation of 27 million people.
In
Jakarta, the Minister
of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husein Al-Munawar said Monday, November
4, that based on the Islamic calendar and computations, the Muslim
fasting month of Ramadan would likely start Wednesday. Sighting Monday
night also failed to reveal the crescent moon, sources told IslamOnline.
There
are more than a quarter million Muslims in this region and it appears
that every single country in the region will officially announce
Wednesday as the start of the very important month of Ramadan for the
Muslims. Brunei, a majority Muslim country will also start fasting that
day.
Speaking
after the inauguration of a hajj media center in Jakarta, Al-Munawar
said that according to Islamic astronomy, the change of month should
occur Tuesday night and fasting should start Wednesday, the Jakarta
Post reported.
Nevertheless,
the official announcement of the beginning of Ramadan will be made only
after a meeting with leaders of the Islamic organizations in Jakarta. In
Malaysia the “Islamic Center” – after consultation with Islamic
leaders in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country – will make the
announcement on television Tuesday evening.
They
will make their decision after sighting the new moon and if the moon is
not seen again, Wednesday will automatically be the start of Ramadan.
While
in Malaysia there is no disagreement on the sighting of the moon and the
fixing of the day of fasting by the authorities, in Indonesia it has
always been a source of arguments between leaders and members of the two
largest Muslim organizations in the country.
The
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Muhammadiyah often differed as to the exact
start of the fasting month as well as its ending. Last year, Indonesians
celebrated the Eid Ul-Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadan month,
on different days, creating a sense of disunity among the
country’s Muslims.
Indonesia
has the largest Muslim population; 85-90 percent of its 212-million
population Muslims. Rivalry between the two groups has been rife on
several issues and the month of Ramadan does not escape such rivalry.
The
Muhammadiyah movement, which claims more than 30 million followers or
members, decided Monday that the first day of Ramadan would fall on
Wednesday while Eid Ul-Fitr would start December 5, one day ahead of the
government's official date.
The
decision, according to the team assigned by Muhammadiyah to determine
the first day of Ramadhan and Eid Ul-Fitr, was taken based on scientific
astronomic calculations, not on the sighting of the moon.
In
Islam it is a tradition to sight the moon before the start of Ramadan
and before the end of the month in order to decide which day is to mark
the Eid celebrations.
In
the recent past, with the availability of advanced scientific tools, the
Muslim community in the region is more and more divided on the role of
traditions and the use of technology to determine the exact days for
Ramadan and Eid Ul-Fitr.
Meanwhile,
Al-Munawar urged places of entertainment to respect the holy month so
that people who were fasting would not be disturbed and could properly
perform their religious duties.
He
left it up to local administrations to regulate the operation of
entertainment centers in their respective jurisdictions during Ramadan.
Since
the Bali bombing, Indonesia has announced that such entertainment centers will
not be opened, except those within hotels.
