By Haroon Balogun

Cross section of participants during a peace advocacy visit to Dadin Kowa Muslim Community, in Jos on Wednesday (30/5/12). NAN Photos

Moon sighting is a subject that encapsulates the unity and if otherwise, the disunity of a Ummah. According to reports, some group of Muslims have already fixed a date for the commencement of Ramadan without regard to the rules and practice of the Prophet which we profess to follow.

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is an act of worship and not in origin, a political matter or one directly related to the practical systems of Islam.

For as long as I can remember, in this part of the world, sighting of the moon for the commencement of the Ramadan fast has always been laced with controversy. In the recent past, we tend to have stabilised the system under the leadership of His eminence, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Sa’ad. It however reared its ugly head most profoundly in the last couple of years giving the impression of disunity amongst Muslims across the country.

This controversy of when we start the Ramadan fast with different ideas from those who constitute themselves as having the audacity and authority to declare fasting are always the architect of this division. Some of our ulamas and heads of societies and organisations are at it again, declaring when the Ramadan would start without due regard to the process and procedure and recourse to the Sultan of Sokoto who is the head of all Muslims in Nigeria.

We heard they have picked a specific date to commence Tarawih and fasting. This, in the last few days has been creating disunity among the Umaah. The Islamic precept is clear: when a Muslim leader who is charged with following the procedure for verification declares that the moon has been sighted, Muslims then commence fasting.

Unfortunately, these are people who know what the Quran and Hadiths say about the issue of commencement of fasting, yet they are the ones who flout the injunctions. The Quran is one, there are no two versions of the hadiths just as the Ummah is one. Then, why is it difficult to agree together and follow the practice of the prophet. (s.a.w).