Ramadan: It’s time that Muslims world over celebrated on one day

By Dr H.M.Mauroof, President, National Muslim Movement

God Almighty has ordained daily dawn to dusk fasting during the period of the lunar month of Ramadan. We are aware that at present, human observations, measurements and calculations issuing from lunar events are less developed in accuracy and detail in comparison to those based on their solar counterparts. And this has contributed in no small measure towards confusion among Muslims in different parts of the world; it is especially so when it comes to the commencement of the season of the Ramadan fast and the day of its ending, and hence, the day of celebrating the Id-ul-Fitr.

To allow this situation to continue is not only contrary to the broad precepts recommended by the Holy Quran but trends to negate one of the basics enunciated by God’s revelations, namely to declare the oneness of the world Muslim community.The lack of demonstrable global unity in essential religious observances is decidedly unMuslim.

Instances are many where the need for oneness has been recommended. For example, congregational prayers five times a day, in the eyes of God is superior to praying individually; congregational prayers on Fridays in the Mosque is an injunction to achieve the same end on a broader state; the injunction to perform the Haj pilgrimage to the world Muslim community once a year on the same day at the same place in Makkah is the ultimate in the effort to demonstrate unity and uniformity. Of equal significance is the fact that, wherever in the world one is, north, south, east or west, every Muslim says his prayers facing the Kaaba in Makkah.

The Quranic injunction vis-à-vis fasting, is to start the Ramadan fasting season and end it with the visibility of the new moon. The present day confusion emanates from the practice, as is the case in Sri Lanka, of waiting for the new moon to be visible to the naked eye in some part of the country, upon which Muslims are exhorted to inform the Committee headquartered at the Grand Mosque at Grandpass, who in turn issues an official declaration to the Muslims.

Continuation of this practice may have been relevant at a time when international communication facilities were sparse and underdeveloped. But today, messages can be transmitted with ease from one part of the globe to any other, however remote, within a matter of seconds.

It is basic and fundamental to be aware that the Quranic message was not meant to be applied piecemeal to a particular country or region; it is meant for humanity in the entirety of the globe.

Therefore if the new moon in Ramadan becomes visible at any particular time in any corner of the globe, from that moment Ramadan becomes declared; the message only remains to be conveyed to the rest of the world to commence the prescribed event.

Therefore, simple reasoning impels Muslims to get this organized. Good organization needs a headquarters to get the project working. The most obvious centre would be the Kaaba in Makkah. What needs to be done is to set up sub-centres in different countries and in spots in appropriate and different time zones and to co-ordinate with an international authority of experts regarding the matter at the Kaaba and then make the announcement to the world.

What is surprising is the fact that so far no apparent efforts had been made to accomplish this. In fact, what is practised today is what might have been in practice many, many decades back. It is imaginable that centuries ago, events, understandably, would have been celebrated on different days, not only in different parts of the world but even within different regions of the same country when no telephone, telegraph, radio and television facilities were even remotely available, and the available means of communication were, at best, primitive.

Amazingly present day Muslims around the world do not seem to be putting the phenomenal advances in the field of communication to good use; and this is tantamount to ignoring the call to interpret the injunctions of the Quran correctly. Aren’t we ignoring the fact that God Almighty has said that the Quran is for all time, till eternity and relevant to every changed circumstance.

This is to appeal to Muslim organizations, intellectuals and potentates in the country to take this matter up as a first step, for common conversation and public discussion with the primary view of making it ultimately so among Muslims internationally.It is a misfortune that there is no one person designated as Minister for Muslim Affairs in the country. A person holding such an office would have been an ideal one to initiate matters at the international level; however, this problem of appropriateness of leadership will resolve itself once there emerges a process of acute and vigorous discussion where a commonality of approach is bound to emerge.