Muslims in Ghana are expected to start this year’s fasting on Monday, the 6th of June 2016 if the moon is sighted, the National Hilal Committee has announced.
The first day of sighting the moon starts on Sunday 5th June that’s when Shaban will be 29 days. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day 22nd annual National Ramadan Conference held in Thmale.
Delegates at the conference appointed a sub-committee chaired by Sheik Illyas Umar from Tamale who deliberated on the agreed date for the sighting of the moon for this year’s Ramadan.
The communiqué said, if the moon is not seen, Monday 6th June becomes the 30th day of Shaban. Tuesday the 7th of June, the communiqué noted, will automatically become the beginning of the 2016 fasting. The communiqué also encouraged religious leaders to incorporate peace messages in their daily and weekly sermons to foster peace in the country.
The conference which brought together Muslim leaders from the ten regions in Ghana was on the theme; Peaceful Elections: Pre-Requisite for National Development.
A member of the communication team of the committee Alhaji Mohammed Ghazali who read the ten point communiqué said delegates resolved that the National Chief Imam or his representative would pronounce the commencement of Ramadan Fasting on national television or any other television station in the country,in consultation with other stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the cut off time agreed is 10:00 am for the sighting of the moon.
Other important national issues
It emphasized that Islam is a religion of peace and preaches peace and peaceful co-existence. Therefore Muslims should not be misconceived as terrorist in the sub-Saharan Africa.
Sanitation
Muslim communities should attach a considerable amount of seriousness to the national monthly cleanup exercise to ensure proper disposal of solid and liquid waste in order to enhance hygienic conditions for good health.
November 7 elections
The communiqué hope the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections would be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere encouraging religious leaders to incorporate peace messages into their daily and weekly sermons to engender peace in the country.
The committee called for the empowerment of women by throwing the necessary support behind them to enable them give proper upbringing to children in the light of secular and religious education.
Muslim communities especially the rural poor should desist from indiscriminate felling of trees that leads to climate change. We should therefore embark on mass tree planting to replace the lost ones to enhance sustainable land use, including food security.