COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/4 June) – Residents of Marawi City flocked to the Provincial Capitol compound on Tuesday to perform Salatul Eid or prayers offered to mark Eid’l Fitr or end of Ramadhan, according to the Facebook post of the Lanao del Sur provincial government.
The celebration in Marawi came a day ahead of the official date for Eid’l Fitr in the country, June 5, as declared by the Darul Iftah of the Philippines.
The basis was the sighting of the crescent moon in Saudi Arabia, which indicated the end of the month-long fasting.
But Grand Mufti Abu Huraira Udasan who was with Muslim clerics in Cotabato City last night said there was no sighting yet of the crescent moon in Asia.
The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) concurred with the Darul Ifta.
“We have all reported NO SIGHTING of the New Moon (Hilal) for the 1st day of Shawwal 1440 AH,” said NCMF Secretary Saidamen Pangarungan in a statement.
In Cotabato City, the city government issued a memorandum banning the practice of mobile Takbir.
Muslims in the city, mostly the young ones, would mark the end of Ramadhan with a mobile Takbir or a noise barrage on the streets aboard open-piped motorcycles and other vehicles.
City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi in a Peace and Order Council meeting yesterday issued the ban on mobile Takbir saying it is not in accordance with the teaching of Islam and has resulted in many road crashes.
“Wala akong sasantuhin (I will spare no one), I am duty-bound to enforce the law. I am urging barangay officials to impose the ban together in helping our security forces”, she said. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)