Led by the Ulama (religious leaders), Muslims across the country will look over the horizons on Thursday to sight the new crescent moon that, when seen by the naked eye, signals the advent of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

If seen Thursday, the first day of Ramadan and fasting start on Friday (August 21), or Saturday (August 22) should there be no sighting of the whisker-thin crescent moon.

Preachers of Islam said the long-held Islamic practice, which the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Allaihi Wassalam had exemplified, calls for the sighting of the new crescent moon to start and end every Hijrah month, which is strictly based on the moon’s cycle.

In Metro Manila, Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) Executive Director Datu Ali B. Sangki created a National Moonsighting Committee to determine the beginning or first day of Ramadan when Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk.

Director Laman Piang of the OMA’s Bureau of Cultural Muslim Affairs, head of the NMC, said Sangki instructed OMA regional offices across the country to coordinate with recognized Islamic bodies, such as Darul Iftah (House of Opinion) for a credible result of the moon sighting.

“The OMA coordinates the moon sighting as it relies on the Ulama to make the fatwa (opinion) on when to start the Ramadan fasting,” said Piang.

Ustadhz Anuar Limbona, a preacher of Islam, is vice chairman of the NCM.

In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan directed last week the religious sector to participate in the search for the new crescent moon and also coordinate with the Darul Iftah based in Cotabato City.

As this developed, Islam preachers said the various geographic locations of Muslims around the world makes for the unsynchronized start of Ramadan fasting.

This had led Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanuglo to call on the 1.5-billion strong Islamic world to adopt a single and unified calendar to end the confusion and promote unity.

Meanwhile, eyeing Muslim community votes in the next elections, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is building a barangay hall in Quiapo, Manila which is expected to be completed in time with the Muslims’ observance of Ramadan starting on August 22.

The two-storey structure located along Palanca Street will benefit barangay officials and residents of Barangay 648, Zone 67 and is expected to end the barangay officials’ problem of the lack of a proper place to hold office and serve their constituents.

MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando approved the construction of the barangay hall last January following barangay chairman Bae Norhaina Lucman’s request.

The absence of a barangay hall has prompted Lucman to hold office at her residence.

“Soon, they will have a barangay hall that they can call their own. This is our simple gift to our Muslim brothers and sisters in Quiapo,” Fernando said.

Barangay 648 is one of three barangays covering the Muslim community in Quaipo, one of the largest Muslim settlements in the country. It is the site of the Golden Mosque, the largest mosque in Metro Manila that can hold 3,000 people.