THE Eid'l Fitr, or the feast of breaking the fast throughout the holy month of Ramadan, will be celebrated by Filipino Muslims on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
This is confirmed by a Muslim leader after the crescent moon, which would have signaled the end of Ramadan, was not sighted during a moonsighting activity in Toledo City in Cebu.
"Our group went to Toledo to conduct the moonsighting, but the moon was not sighted today," Datu Abubacar Gunang of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) told SunStar Cebu on Thursday, April 20.
Gunang said that Muslims will continue to practice dawn until dusk fasting on Friday, April 21, which will be the 30th day of observing Ramadan.
"This will mean that Eid'l Fitr will be moved on Saturday," he said.
In Islam, the sighting of the crescent moon marks the beginning of each lunar month, including the month of Ramadan, and the end of the month of Ramadan marks the beginning of the festival of Eid'l Fitr.
Thereafter, he said, congregational prayers in wide spaces gatherings and family thanksgivings will happen on Saturday to commemorate the end of Ramadan.
"We will have a simultaneous prayer in public places in the morning given that all Mosque cannot accommodate the number of Muslims on Saturday," he said.
Gunang said that a number of Muslims will be praying the Eid Salat, or the first prayer on Eid'l Fitr, at the Plaza Independencia in Barangay San Roque in Cebu City.
The three-hour long gathering will start at 6 a.m.
A communal meal will be shared with the attendees that is prepared by the Office of the Muslim Affairs and Indigenous Cultural Communities (OMAICC) of Cebu City and the Cebu City Government.
OMAICC Cebu City clarified on Friday morning, April 21, regarding the confusion on the exact date of Eid'l Fitr.
"Please don’t be confused if Eid'l Fitr will be today, Friday (April 21) or tomorrow, Saturday (April 22)," a portion of a Facebook post by OMAICC reads.
"Inshaallah, we will stick and keep our decision last night that our Eid'l Fitr here in Cebu is (on) Saturday, (at the) Plaza Independencia," the post added.
This comes after other countries, particularly in the Middle East, confirmed they had seen the crescent moon on Thursday evening, which for them made Friday, April 21, the day of Eid’l Fitr.
They also made it clear that Filipino Muslims might choose to break their fast based on the moonsighting in the Philippines or abroad.
"There is nothing wrong if you decide to break your fast today, and there are Masjids here in Cebu that will have Eid'l Fitr today, Friday," the post ended.
Aside from the Philippines, other countries that announced to move the Eid'l Fitr on Saturday are Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Japan, Cambodia, South Korea, New Zealand, Oman, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Hongkong and Morocco. (KJF, TPT)