Dutch Muslims Seek Consensus on Ramadan Start

A Ramadan Web site featuring information about the fasting and buzzing activities by mosques during the holy month was opened last year.

By Nasreddine Djebbi, IOL Correspondent

THE HAGUE, September 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – To spare the Muslim minority the usual disagreement on the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, five Dutch Muslim organizations agreed to start the fasting on Wednesday, October 5, according to astrological calculations.

In a statement issued Wednesday, September 21, the Imams Society, Moroccan Mosques Union in Central Netherlands, Moroccan Mosques Union in Amsterdam, Islamic Council in Lunenburg and the Federation of Islamic Organizations in the Netherlands said the new moon would not be sighted on Monday, October 3, and consequently the first day of Ramadan would be Wednesday.

The statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net, urged all other Muslim organizations in the northern European country to begin fasting on the same day.

The start of Ramadan last year was marked by the launching of a Ramadan Web site, featuring information about the dawn-to-dusk fasting, reports on buzzing activities by mosques and Islamic organizations during the month as well as a review of Islam in the Dutch press.

There are one million Muslims in the Netherlands, mostly hailing from Turkish and Moroccan origin.

Unity Drive

The new move aims at overcoming differences among the various Muslim community in the country regarding the beginning of the holy month.

"This initiative is part of efforts by several Islamic bodies and centers in Europe to bring closer Muslim minorities in Europe through an agreement on the beginning of fasting and `Eid", chairman of the Imams Society Sheikh Al-Baqali Al-Khammar told IOL.

It is high time for Muslims in the West to unite, especially vis-à-vis issues of such importance, he added.

Al-Khammar, also the imam of Al-Islam Mosque in the Hague, said differences on the start of Ramadan are common among Arab Muslims and less so among Pakistanis, Turks and the Surinamese.

Moon sighting has always been a controversial issue among Muslim countries, and even scholars seem at odds over the issue.

While one group of scholars sees that Muslims in other regions and countries are to follow this sighting as long as these countries share one part of the night, another states that Muslims everywhere should abide by the lunar calendar of Saudi Arabia.

A third, however, disputes both views, arguing that Islam is against division and disunity, since Muslims, for instance, are not allowed to hold two congregational prayers in one mosque at the same time.

This group believes that the authority in charge of ascertaining the sighting of the moon in a given country announces the sighting of the new moon, then Muslims in the country should all abide by this.

Islamonline