Muslims hope to see the end of conflict

COTABATO CITY — Drawing spiritual strength from their observance of the Ramadan, Muslim residents in the South will observe today the Eid’l Fitr, the end of the month-long fasting season, optimistic that they will finally see an end to the Min-danao conflict.

This year’s observance by Muslims of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month, has been tainted with blood in many areas in the South, where state and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces have continued to face a standoff.

"We hope next year’s Ramadan will not be marred with killings, the massacre and the displacement of thousands of innocent people. We want an end to this madness. We want the government and the MILF to resume the peace talks and resolve the conflict at the negotiating table," said Datu Michael Sinsuat, mayor of Upi, Maguindanao and president of the provincial mayors’ league.

Datu Tucao Mastura, an influential leader in nearby Sultan Kudarat town, said this year’s Ramadan observance was repeatedly disturbed by reports of killings, kidnappings and firefights between soldiers and Muslim rebels in many critical areas in Central Mindanao.

"We shall break our fasting season with optimism that the month-long Ramadan will keep in our hearts the zeal to continue exerting efforts to resolve the Mindanao conflict through peaceful means," said Dr. Tahir Sulaik, chief of the Integrated Provincial Health Office in Maguindanao.

Islam’s progenitor, Prophet Mohammad, taught his followers to start observing the month of Ramadan, regarded by the Muslims as a season of fasting and sacrifice, upon the sighting of the first new moon after the preceding month in the lunar-based Hijrah calendar.

Muslim rebels adhere to the teaching that they are assured of "a place in paradise" if they become "martyrs" during the Ramadan.

For Muslims, it was during the Ramadan when Allah sent down to Mohammad the Holy Qur’an and prodded the prophet to read the scripture and spread Islam.

Mohammad and the early Muslims were said to have won great battles in furthering Islam all over the Middle East, conquering one area then another and establishing a centralized government patterned on the Quranic concept of governance, premised on the principle of equality of all men.