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Friday, November 04, 2005
Muslims mark Eid' Ul Fiter
By Richel V. Umel
Lanao correspondent
ILIGAN CITY -- Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo with her husband Lanao del Norte Second Representative Abdullah Bobby Dimaporo led the Muslim communities in Lanao in celebrating Eid' Ul Fiter or the Feast of Ramadhan which ended the month-long fasting and prayer Wednesday morning.
In a phone interview, Dimaporo called for continued peace, unity and propriety among Muslims and Christians as well as adherence to the rule of law under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Imams (muslim religious leader) in different mosques of the two Lanao provinces and Zamboanga Penensula also urged fellow Muslims to strengthen family ties and relationships as a basic unit of the community and sustain the religious teachings among their children.
Muslim delicacies were served in Maranao residences after the community prayer in Mosque where some Christian friends were invited to join and witness the Feast of Ramadhan.
President Arroyo officially declared November 4 as public non-working holiday.
And in Cotabato, Filipino Muslims thronged to mosques Thursday at the start of a three-day feast ending the fasting month of Ramadan, amid calls for sobriety in the festive season that usually involves firing guns in the air.
On the main southern island of Mindanao, home to minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation and scene of a decades-old Muslim insurgency, Malaysian members of an international ceasefire monitoring team broke fast with rebel and government representatives who are engaged in peace talks.
At dawn Thursday, nearly 5,000 Muslim faithful gathered at two open-air fields in Cotabato City, about 880 kilometers southeast of Manila, for congregational prayers.
A leading local cleric, Darul Ifta Jaafar Ali, urged Muslims not to fire guns in the air to greet Eid al-Fitr. Such outbursts have become tradition in a region awash with weapons, though Jaafar Ali warned that, "it is not in accordance with Islam."
Authorities reported at least two people were slightly wounded after being hit by stray bullets.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also congratulated Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of the population of 84 million.
"Definitely, the thrusts of government on peace, stability, sustainable development and economic prosperity will be immensely advanced by the positive pursuit of the virtues of Ramadan," she said. (With a report from AP)
(November 4, 2005 issue)
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