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Confusion haunts Ramadan celebrations

While some Muslims waited to break their 30-day fast, hundreds of Muslims in Mangochi gathered yesterday at Mangochi Stadium and Forest Ground for prayers that marked Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations.

Speaking in an interview, Ulamah Council chairperson (Mangochi Chapter) Sheikh Abubakar Ali Labson Ali justified their move to celebrate Eid yesterday, saying they had seen the moon.

He said: “Our messenger, Muhammad, teaches us that we should begin observing a 30-day fasting [period] when the moon is sighted.

“He also teaches us to break the fasting when the moon is sighted by anyone of us.”

Labson Ali: Some sighted the moon

Ali stressed that some Muslims sighted the moon in Monkey Bay, Machinga and Karonga; hence, the celebrations.

“Not only that, we also received some direction from Kibra and Malca that the moon was sighted,” he added.

Ali described their Ramadan as successful, saying they have accomplished what Allah commands them.

“We have felt how the poor feel when they are hungry. How they struggle in life. This has taught us lessons to feed them

and support them with whatever we have,” he said.

“Apart from that, we have repented all our sins and our shortcomings. We feel united with our creator now and eager to continue doing good things,” he added

Ali asked all Muslims in the country to continue doing good things to their fellow friends and others as portrayed during Ramadan to ensure oneness that translates into development.

Asked why they did not join their friends to celebrate Eid, Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) chairperson for Mangochi, Sheikh Fahad Kamsuli, said it was not true that the moon had been sighted.

“To us, it was hearsay because I got thi s information that the moon was sighted in Monkey Bay by some of us, but

 when I followed it up, the people who claimed to have sighted the moon kept on referring the issue to each other until they stopped responding. Therefore, to me it was not true,” he said.

Kamsuli said as MAM, they follow protocols similar to those followed by other countries in the southern Africa region such as South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia; hence, they could not celebrate when these countries had not given the green light.

He blamed modern technology for causing confusion, saying proliferation of modern devices is making people believe false information.

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