Following the moon sighting announcement on Friday April 1, 2022 by the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, Muslims in Nigeria commenced this year’s Ramadan fast last Saturday April 2, 2022. It would be recalled that the Sultan had on Thursday urged Muslims across the country to look for this year’s Ramadan moon after sunset on Friday April 1, equivalent to 29th of Sha’aban 1443 AH.
In a telecast announcement which was also carried on NSCIA’s Twitter, the Sultan declared that the crescent for the month of Ramadan was sighted in Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Katsina, Plateau, Kaduna and Kano states among others. “In accordance with Islamic law, Muslim ummah is to commence fasting on Saturday accordingly,” he said. The Sultan also urged the federal government to tackle the rising insecurity in the country. He advised Muslims to use the occasion of this year’s fasting to pray to Allah for the peace and progress of the country; admonishing Nigerians to continue to live peacefully with one another irrespective of religious and tribal differences.
Ramadan fast is one of the five cardinal principles of Islam. In Islam, Ramadan fast entails abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking and conjugal relationships between dawn and sunset for the entire period of the month of Ramadan. This religious obligation finds justification in Qur’an 2:183 wherein God, the Exalted, says, “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that ye may (learn) self-restraint”.
During the holy season of Ramadan, Muslims are enjoined to be full of tolerance, hospitality and kindness especially to indigent individuals. They are advised to give alms, feed the poor and invite others including non-Muslims to break the Ramadan fast with them. These acts of benevolence in Ramadan promote better religious understanding, peace and social justice, which altogether are most desirable in a multi-cultural and multi-religious country like Nigeria.
Ramadan is a unique opportunity for Muslims to fervently pray and seek Allah’s intervention to provide the healing that the critically sick country needs. While we call on preachers to choose their words and avoid inflammatory and inciting expressions that could provoke the anger of the listening public, we admonish dealers in essential commodities not to take undue advantage of Ramadan to hike prices of foodstuff. We wish all Muslims a peaceful Ramadan!
