Amon Jadid celebrated in ARMM

COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Filipino Muslims in the country’s south observed Monday the  "Amon Jadid",  a regional non-working  holiday.

The Amon Jadid marks the first day in the lunar-based Islamic Hijrah calendar.

The Amon Jadid, or first day in the Islamic month of Muharram in Hijrah Year 1435 corresponds to November 4, 2013 in the Gregorian calendar.

The Hijrah New Year comes after the culmination of the yearly Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Performing the Hajj, which is obligatory for Muslims who can afford the cost of travel from their countries of origin to Mecca, is one of the “Five Pillars” of the Islamic religion, which include absolute belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing the west, giving of zakat (alms) to the poor, and fasting at daytime during the 30-day Ramadhan season.

The Amon Jadid is one of the Muslim Holidays the national government recognizes under Presidential Decree 1083, which codified Muslim family laws and practices.

Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, in a statement, urged ARMM’s Moro communities to continue  supporting the Mindanao peace process while observing the Amon Jadid holiday.

The ARMM, which groups together Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan and Marawi, has about four million Muslim residents.

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said Muslims in the province should invoke gratitude in their five prayers for the day for having survived through Hijrah year 1434, where conflicts and calamities hit some of its 36 towns.

“Let all the ordeals we had in Hijrah Year 1434 be counted as challenges and part of the blessings from Allah for us to rise and become even stronger in our faith,” Magudadatu said.

Hataman and Mangudadatu also both urged Mindanao’s Moro sectors to focus their Amon Jadid reflections on how to improve their participation in community activities complementing the peace talks between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Last year’s Hijrah (1434) Amon Jadid fell on October 15. - John Unson