There is confusion today in the Islamic world. The fuss is over when the Holy Month of Ramadan should end, depending on the sighting of the new moon. The issue, however, is not substantive and has nothing to do with any fundamental tenet of the religion. It is a recurring conundrum regarding a ritual that refuses to die.

True, the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos, an agency of government specializing in Muslim affairs, had recommended — and Malacañang adopted it through Proclamation No. 514 — the observance today, 10 April, of Eid’l Fitr, a national holiday. However, some observed it yesterday, 9 April, following unconfirmed reports that Saudi Arabia had declared the new moon sighting the other day. 

The sighting of the moon — an archaic practice? No way, claim the ultra-conservative Muslims. Even with the advances in modern science, technology, and astronomy, which predetermine the setting and rising of the new moon like clockwork, believers are still bound to follow the Islamic injunction of sighting the moon, with two witnesses attesting to it.  They follow to the letter the ritual observed during the early days of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, PBUH. 

This mirrors the dichotomy in Islam — a continuing tug of war between uncompromising stern fundamentalists versus those who want to break away from past tradition toward forward-looking, progressive ideas without desecrating the basic principles of Islam.

In fact, this defines the great divide between adherents of the fundamentalist Islamic State of Abubakar Al-Bagdadhi that advocates violence to establish a caliphate in the mold of Prophet Muhammad’s PBUH of yore and moderate Islam — a contentious issue better left to Muslim theologians.

But regardless of when to celebrate the feast, there will be jubilation. Devotees will bathe at dawn and wear their prayer raiment, clean clothes for men with subdued colors like the Pakistani tabligh shalwar or the Arab ankle-length thobe or dishdasha. The women will wear their abaya, predominantly white or black.

At dawn, the muezzin's call will reverberate from the towering minarets of mosques. From the arabesque gigantic high-rise rooftops of Masjed el Haram of Holy Mecca to the rickety temporary makeshift prayer structures (one can hardly call them mosques) of the evacuation center in Sagonsongan, Marawi City, the adhan or call to prayer will echo, summoning devotees to bid farewell to Holy Ramadan.

Repetitive and monotonous chants praising Almighty Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) will fill the mosques’ atmosphere and periphery and other prayer halls, including open fields of worship, which have become a popular situs for the congregation.

On a personal note, I distinctly remember during my stint as Undersecretary of Tourism when a group of Muslim student leaders visited me in my office. They requested a permit to use the Luneta open ground for Eid congregational prayer. The park is under the administrative supervision and control of the Department of Tourism-National Parks Development Committee. I facilitated the grant of a permit.

Since then, Muslims in Metro Manila have converged on the Luneta for Eid prayer.

On this day, those who have the wherewithal will offer bountiful food after the congregation, along with the distribution of “fitra,” or the obligatory alms, to deserving poor. Families will rendezvous for post-prayer breakfasts, greetings, pleasantries, and reunions.

There are a myriad of lessons learned from the deprivation of food, drink, and mundane prohibitive acts. It is a great challenge for devotees to have the values imparted by the Holy Month take root in their hearts, minds, and bodies.

Ramadan was not imposed by Islam for nothing. It reminds believers of its basic teaching—piety on the way to salvation from hellfire. It is a month of moral reformation and spiritual regeneration. How devotees imbibe these values in their being will define them.

amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com