Only Sultan of Sokoto can announce commencement, ending of Ramadan fasting in Nigeria – CIO leaders

*As Group holds pre-Ramadan lecture in Lagos for Muslims’ guide on duty before, during after holy month

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

The over 100 million Muslims of Nigeria have been reminded that the only leader who can announce the commencement and ending of Ramadan fasting is leader of the nation, who in the case of Muslim Ummah, is the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

Leadership of the Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), which pulled Islamic scholars together at Beleke Smith Mosque, Surulere, Lagos State, on Tuesday February 27, 2024 to discuss the role of Muslims before, during and after Ramadan fasting exercise, made the reminder as the coming of this year 1455AH/2024 Ramadan fasting is about 12 days ahead.

On ground to handle the discussion were the Mufti of CIO, Sheikh Zikrullahi Shafii; Member of CIO, Amir Qamardeen Ajala, who were lecturers and Secretary General of CIO, Engr. Luqman Balogun, who gave a welcome address as the chief scribe of the all-Muslim group during the programme.

They all agreed that for the unity of Muslims in being able to perform the worship to the acceptability of Allah, the adherents of Islamic faithful have the blessing of being rightly guided in line with the tradition of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Leader of the Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, and that only him can announce the sighting of the new moon for the commencement and ending of Ramadan fasting.

Addressing the gathering of Islamic organisations from across the society, Secretary General of the CIO, Engr. Luqman Balogun, said the pre-Ramadan seminar was organised to sentise Muslims in preparation for meeting the new month of Ramadan that is fast approaching so, according to him, no one would have the unfortunate situation of missing the abundant opportunities that are contained in the holy month.

“Ramadan is the best of all visitors that one can entertain in one’s life because therein lies a lot of goodies. For example, Lailatul Qadr, which Allah says is better than 1,000 months, is in Ramadan apart from so many other benefits.  So, it is a unique opportunity that Muslims cannot afford to miss. That is why we need to sensitise ourselves to prepare for meeting this month and that is why we are here today,” Balogun said.

On the role of Ramadan in addressing the global and Nigerian challenges, the CIO chief scribe, while speaking to journalists on the sideline of the event, said, “The global problem, as far as we are concerned, centres on faithlessness. People don’t believe in their creator. Ramadan has come to tutor them to refrain from their whims, caprices and desires for them to be disciplined.  Of course you know, when you are hungry in Ramadan you don’t eat. When you are thirsty you don’t drink, that is with your own lawful means. So, you that are able to do that won’t have difficulty in turning away from things that do not belong to you outside of the fasting month.

“If people are disciplined, if we have the fear of Allah, we would not be in this kind of situation we find ourselves today. This programme is to train, at least for the Muslim communities who are supposed to be models for other people. If Muslims are upright and are faithful to their creator, we would realise that our time and sojourn on this earth are but for a short time and, so, we cannot afford to do anything the way we want but the way Allah wants and we will be able to have the fear of Allah in anything we are doing.

“That is why this programme is very, very important for Muslims, for this country as our nation and for the global space too, because a lot of crises, a lot of atrocities are going on around the globe now. Talk about the Ukraine-Russia war, talk about the massacre and the genocide happening in Gaza. It’s all because of some people’s desires to take what does not belong to them and to oppress others.

“So, fasting in the month of Ramadan is very, very great in the life of human beings not only for the nation, not only for the family, not only for the individual but for the entire world, it is very, very important.

Asked if this is the time predicted by Holy Prophet (pbuh) that people who stand with religion would be seen and treated as strangers, looking at it at a time like this when religion is being pushed to the background with talk about the more the number of mosques and churches the more the evils, Engr. Luqman Balogun, also an Islamic scholar, responded in the affirmative.

He said, “Yeah, this is about the time because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that Islam came as a religion of strange people and when it will go back, it will go as religion of the strange people but he added, “Give glad tidings to the strangers”.”

He continued, “For a Muslim to uphold the tenet of Islam this very time of ours, he has to be upright, he has to think much more about the hereafter than this world and so, when others are stealing he will not be among them; when others are going into crime of all kinds, he will not be among them and so they will see him as a stranger, those who are doing it.

“It is just like our sisters who are wearing hijab covering their chastity and so on like that, some other people who are naked see them as strangers. They will say, “The temperature is hot. Why are you covering yourself up?” But they need to know that there is great blessing in what Allah has commanded.

“So, anybody who wants to uphold the tenet of Islam would be seen as stranger in the wider community but such people have to be steadfast because, by so doing, their lives will be meaningful, they will not be like the wayward ones because in the hereafter, bounties, mercy and forgiveness of Allah await them. So we can say that this is part of the time the Prophet pbuh had warned us against that Muslims will be like strangers,” the CIO Secretary General said.

Two scholars on ground as lecturers of the day were Sheikh Zikrullahi Shafii, Mufti of the CIO, and Amir Qamardeen Ajala, who is one of the leaders of the CIO.

Speaking first, Amir Ajala said, “First and foremost, Ramadan is important to the Muslims because, in Ramadan, we engage in a lot of spiritual activities that bring us closer to Allah and Allah mentions it in Qur’an chapter 2 very 183 and 187. In the first verse Allah ends it with “so that you can have taqwa.” Allah wants us to have self-restraint, to control our soul and control our desires.

“An example is when you are with your legal wife during the days of the month of Ramadan and refrain yourself from having sexual intercourse with her because you are fasting. If anybody now comes to you after that to seduce you, it is expected that you will use the same method you are trained by in the month of Ramadan to restrain yourself from having affair with her, who is unlawful to you.

“The same thing is food. In Ramadan you have your lawful food but cannot eat if because of the fear of Almighty Allah and so, because you have this training during the month of Ramadan, you will be able to abstain from unlawful means of life after Ramadan.”

Amir Qamardeen Ajala then hit the main point of how to commence and end fasting in the month of Ramadan when he said, “Commencement of fasting of the month of Ramadan has been clearly stated in Islam. One, it is either you count Sha’aban to be 30 or the sighting of the moon and these two things happened when the Prophet peace be upon him was alive.

“There were instances when the Prophet did not even sight the moon but people would sight it, bring the report to him and then he would direct Bilal to go and announce the sighting of the new moon. When there is cloud in the sky and new moon of Ramadan cannot be sighted, then count your Sha’aban to be 30 but only the leader can announce the sighting of the new moon of Ramadan.

“I am not talking about leader of your community but leader of the nation. I am not talking about leader of your organisation, you cannot announce on your own, even though in Shari’a one person is enough to start Ramadan once you have two witnesses. Today the leader of the Muslim Ummah of Nigeria is Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who has gathered a lot of Muslim scholars working on the sighting of new moon and are giving updates on monthly basis. And if you are conversant with the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), you would know that they have arrangement concerning the moon sighting.

“So, only Sultan of Sokoto in Nigeria can announce the commencement of fasting and since five years ago, in Lagos and I am not talking of other states, we have been following the announcement of new moon to commence and end fasting of Ramadan by the Sultan of Sokoto because Lagos Central in live with the Sultan.

Also speaking, Mufti Zikrullahi Shafii, sighting the traditions of Holy Muhammad, peace be upon him, justified the organisation of pre-Ramadan seminar as he said Nabiyy Muhammad pbuh made it clear that it is highly rewardable that Muslims sensitise one another to know and prepare for the coming of Ramadan fasting.

“As it is the tradition with CIO annually, we hold Ramadan seminar to prepare Muslims for Ramadan fasting and other duties in line with the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Abu Huraira says, “Nabiyy Muhammad (S.A.W.) used to give glad tidings that the month of Ramadan is near” and so he never let the month meet them unprepared and he used to encourage them on it.

“It is in the book of Hadith by Salman Faris from where scholars of Islam brought it that when Ramadan approaches, Islamic clerics should create awareness to get people prepared in all areas of preparation among which are spiritual preparation, financial preparation, physical preparation up to knowledge acquisition, organisation and moral that is kind of behaviour that should be seen with a fasting Muslim.

“But this year, the lecture is based on good deeds that Muslims are expected to embark upon during the month of Ramadan as established by Allah and explained by Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and how early Muslims spent their lives in Ramadan. Another of the lectures is the role of fear of Allah. It is because of this that Allah revealed Ramadan according to Qur’an chapter 2 verse 183 which says: “O ye who believe! We make fasting compulsory upon you like we made it compulsory on those before you, so you can fear Allah”. The reason for which Allah brought fasting in the month of Ramadan is for us to fear Allah,” Shafii said.