Trending Capital: July 29 is holiday

By Raymart Escopel

In order to become one with the celebration of the end of Ramadan which is considered as the holy month of our Muslim brothers and sisters, the government officially declared that July 29 is a national holiday.

The end of Ramadan is called as the Eid al-Fitr, an Arabic phrase which means “festival of breaking of the fast” as Ramadan is mostly associated with sacrifices through fasting. Eid al-Fitr is also called as the Sugar Feast, Bayram (Bajram), the Sweet Festival and the Lesser Eid.

For the Muslims, Eid al-Fitr is an important religious festivity in any parts of the world as it signals the end of the Islamic holy month of fasting, Ramadan. The said religious celebration is comparable and similar to the Holy Week celebration of the Roman Catholics which is also associated by sacrifices in the form of fasting.

On the day of the celebration of the Eid al-Fitr, Muslims are allowed to eat as much as they want after a month-long of limiting their water and food intake. During Ramadan, Muslims are not permitted to eat a meal from dawn to sunset for a period of 29 or 30 days.

The day of the celebration of Eid al-Fitr varies. However, it usually falls on the first day of the month of Shawwal, a day when all Muslims all over the world are united in one goal.

The date of the start of the lunar Hjri month marks the start of the fasting of the Muslims. However, the Hijri month depends on the observation of the new moon by the local religious authorities. Yet, most of the Muslim countries follow the day of celebration of Saudi Arabia.

The Muslims cover a huge part of the Phillippines’ population and it is just right that our government also give importance to their religious occasions. Despite the differences in religious belief, we still live in one country and we are all considered as Filipinos./PN