Holy Ramzan begins with sighting of crescent moon

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Cheers and enthusiasm prevailed amongst the Muslim brethren to welcome the holy fasting month of Ramzan after the sighting of the crescent moon on Saturday evening. The devotees will observe their first ‘Roza’ on Sunday.

As the darkness grew, the devotees made their way towards their nearest mosques to perform special Namaz-e-Taraweeh. Nearly all the mosques were illuminated to mark the beginning and welcome the holy month of fasting. It has been observed that many devotees rushed to the mosques where the three/two chapters of the holy Quran’s verses were being recited during the special prayers. On Sunday early morning hours, the devotees will eat food called ‘Saher’ and then the first fast will be commenced.

Each Roza is 12-13 hours in duration. As the fasting month has fallen in March, it is hoped that the weather will not be sultry.

Earlier, the devotees were expecting a sighting of the moon on Friday. Hence the Hilal Committee put to rest the speculations which were at rife, by making it clear that there was no sighting of the moon on Friday. The committee also clarified that the first Roza will be observed on Sunday.

Considering as a bonus of one day, the devotees preferred storing groceries and dry fruits including dates and buying fresh fruits. Hence the commercial markets in Shahgunj, City Chowk, Buddi Lane, Lota Karanja, Roshan Gate, etc witnessed traffic congestion.

Rush in dry fruits shops

Muslim devotees break their fast in the evening by eating dates. Hence the dryfruits shops in the city witnessed a rush during the whole day.

Benefits 70 times

During the holy month, the Muslims without fail offer regular namaz five times a day and during the night hours perform Namaz-e-Taraweeh. Many Muslims also spend their day reading the Holy Quran as much as they can. The benefits in this holy month for any single good deed are 70 times more than the normal 11 months of the Islamic calendar. Hence I appeal to the devotees to spend their maximum time doing ‘zikr’ and ‘tilawat’, said Jamia Islamiya Kashif-ul-Uloom’s Maulana Nasimoddin Miftahi.