Kaduna
— Ahead of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, traditional rulers and
Islamic scholars yesterday converged in Kaduna to deliberate on ways to
sight the moon and the exact prayer times with a view to unifying
Muslims in the country.
The national
workshop on Moon Sighting and Prayer Times organised by the Astro-Qibla
Initiative (ASQIN) in collaboration with Al-Afrikiy Islamic Television,
had the theme, Contemporary Issues and Challenges on Prayer Times and
Moon Sighting.
Speaking at the
event, the Emir of Gumel, Alhaji Ahmad Muhammad Sani, urged Muslims to
remain united in all their endeavours, saying, "Muslims are always
divided when it comes to looking for the moon which culminates in the
beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. Whenever the Sultan who is the
leader of the Muslims announces that the moon has been sighted, some
people will not believe him except and until either they see it
themselves or are told by their Malams that they have seen the moon
which unfortunately gives room for non-Muslims to make mockery of us."
He added, "Muslims
need to remain united in whatever they do because that is the panacea
for every obstacle Muslims or the religion of Islam will face. We need
to respect the will of Allah who asks us to respect our leaders, observe
and obey constituted authority and be conscious of our religious duties
with regards to moon sighting, prayer times and every other aspect of
Islam."
On his part,
Governor Nasir El-Rufai said the effort at identifying the actual prayer
time and sighting of the moon was a welcome development because it
would bring the Muslim Ummah together.
The Chairman of the
ASQIN, Malam Salihu S. Abubakar, said the initiative was an effort by a
humble group of Muslim brothers in a bid to educate and enlighten the
Muslim Ummah on scientific ways to sight the crescent moon of each month
in the Islamic calendar and to establish required prayer times.
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