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Bombs mar start of Ramadan in Thai south
NINIEK KARMINI | AP || Sunday 22 July 2012
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Two bomb blasts greeted the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Buddhist-dominated Thailand on Saturday and one person was reported killed and seven were wounded.
The holy month started ominously in the southern region, where most Thai Muslims live and where fighting has claimed thousands of lives. The car bombing started fires at shops and residences and sent black smoke wafting from a row of four-story buildings in a commercial area of Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat province.
Seven people were injured, including four who were briefly trapped on the roof of a burning building, said police Col. Maitree Chimcherd. He said rebels hid the homemade bomb in a pickup truck parked in front of a computer store.
On Thursday night, a roadside bomb killed a villager and wounded his companion while they were hunting for squirrels in the woods in Yala province, said police Col. Wichai Jaengsakul.
Still, residents of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces flocked to local markets Friday to shop for fresh and dried fruit including date palm to be consumed at dusk after the first day of fasting ends.
Elsewhere in Asia, Muslims have begun fasting, albeit at different times. While Muslims in Thailand began fasting on Friday, Malaysians, Indians, Pakistanies and Bangladeshis started on Saturday.
Ramadan's start varies because Muslim countries and groups use different ways of calculating when the new moon crescent is sighted.
The Muhammadiyah group, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, told its 30 million followers that Ramadan starts Friday. The government, however, declared the official start as Saturday, when most of the remaining 190 million Indonesians began the dawn-to-dusk fast.
Muhammadiyah, which uses calendar-based astronomical calculations, believed that the crescent should have appeared after sunset on Thursday. But the government argued it could not be seen by eyes or telescopes, hence Ramadan has to start Saturday.
The Muslim holy month devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and good deeds culminates with the three-day holiday of Eid Al-Fitr.
Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad during Ramadan, which starts with the sighting of the new moon. The Muslim lunar calendar moves back through the seasons, so Ramadan starts 11 days earlier each year under the Western calendar.
In Malaysia, where nearly two-thirds of the population is Muslim, people began observing the holy month with special Qur'an-reading and prayer sessions to proceed nightly throughout the month.
The start of Ramadan is often quiet in Malaysia, with excitement peaking in the final week, when people buy new clothes, food and other supplies to celebrate the end of the holy month.
Many hotels in Kuala Lumpur have begun advertising promotional dinners featuring roast lamb, savory curries and sumptuous cakes for more affluent Muslims to break their fast, while in numerous neighborhoods, entrepreneurs will set up evening stalls for customers to purchase cooked rice, meat and vegetables to bring home for their families.
Homemaker Karina Hassan said this Ramadan might be significant for her family because her 8-year-old daughter could try fasting for the first time. "She might try to fast for half a day at first," Karina said. "She's always hungry 24 hours a day, so fasting could be tough for her."
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak urged his country's Muslims to set aside their political differences during Ramadan and foster unity among believers. Political rhetoric and mudslinging has intensified in Malaysia over the past year ahead of national elections that must be held before mid-2013.
Pakistan's government has promised there will not be any power blackouts during the key hours when people are preparing for their fast or during the evening when they pray and break their fasts.
"If there is electricity or no electricity, people do fast, and they fast with patience," said Shah Mohammed, who sells nuts in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. "Allah gives you patience."
Parts of India, where about 13 percent of the 1.2 billion people are Muslim, started Saturday, including New Delhi and the Indian portion of Kashmir.
The largest Muslim rebel group in the predominantly Catholic Philippines said fasting began on Saturday.
A cease-fire has curtailed fighting and fostered peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in recent years. Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq said the guerrillas would observe Ramadan but still defend themselves if attacked.
The Philippine military traditionally orders troops to refrain from offensives that could disrupt Ramadan in the southern regions where minority Muslims live. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda released a statement expressing solidarity with and goodwill toward Filipino Muslims in the holy month.
Bombs mars start of Ramadan in Thai south | ArabNews
NINIEK KARMINI | AP || Sunday 22 July 2012
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Two bomb blasts greeted the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Buddhist-dominated Thailand on Saturday and one person was reported killed and seven were wounded.
The holy month started ominously in the southern region, where most Thai Muslims live and where fighting has claimed thousands of lives. The car bombing started fires at shops and residences and sent black smoke wafting from a row of four-story buildings in a commercial area of Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat province.
Seven people were injured, including four who were briefly trapped on the roof of a burning building, said police Col. Maitree Chimcherd. He said rebels hid the homemade bomb in a pickup truck parked in front of a computer store.
On Thursday night, a roadside bomb killed a villager and wounded his companion while they were hunting for squirrels in the woods in Yala province, said police Col. Wichai Jaengsakul.
Still, residents of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces flocked to local markets Friday to shop for fresh and dried fruit including date palm to be consumed at dusk after the first day of fasting ends.
Elsewhere in Asia, Muslims have begun fasting, albeit at different times. While Muslims in Thailand began fasting on Friday, Malaysians, Indians, Pakistanies and Bangladeshis started on Saturday.
Ramadan's start varies because Muslim countries and groups use different ways of calculating when the new moon crescent is sighted.
The Muhammadiyah group, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, told its 30 million followers that Ramadan starts Friday. The government, however, declared the official start as Saturday, when most of the remaining 190 million Indonesians began the dawn-to-dusk fast.
Muhammadiyah, which uses calendar-based astronomical calculations, believed that the crescent should have appeared after sunset on Thursday. But the government argued it could not be seen by eyes or telescopes, hence Ramadan has to start Saturday.
The Muslim holy month devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and good deeds culminates with the three-day holiday of Eid Al-Fitr.
Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad during Ramadan, which starts with the sighting of the new moon. The Muslim lunar calendar moves back through the seasons, so Ramadan starts 11 days earlier each year under the Western calendar.
In Malaysia, where nearly two-thirds of the population is Muslim, people began observing the holy month with special Qur'an-reading and prayer sessions to proceed nightly throughout the month.
The start of Ramadan is often quiet in Malaysia, with excitement peaking in the final week, when people buy new clothes, food and other supplies to celebrate the end of the holy month.
Many hotels in Kuala Lumpur have begun advertising promotional dinners featuring roast lamb, savory curries and sumptuous cakes for more affluent Muslims to break their fast, while in numerous neighborhoods, entrepreneurs will set up evening stalls for customers to purchase cooked rice, meat and vegetables to bring home for their families.
Homemaker Karina Hassan said this Ramadan might be significant for her family because her 8-year-old daughter could try fasting for the first time. "She might try to fast for half a day at first," Karina said. "She's always hungry 24 hours a day, so fasting could be tough for her."
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak urged his country's Muslims to set aside their political differences during Ramadan and foster unity among believers. Political rhetoric and mudslinging has intensified in Malaysia over the past year ahead of national elections that must be held before mid-2013.
Pakistan's government has promised there will not be any power blackouts during the key hours when people are preparing for their fast or during the evening when they pray and break their fasts.
"If there is electricity or no electricity, people do fast, and they fast with patience," said Shah Mohammed, who sells nuts in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. "Allah gives you patience."
Parts of India, where about 13 percent of the 1.2 billion people are Muslim, started Saturday, including New Delhi and the Indian portion of Kashmir.
The largest Muslim rebel group in the predominantly Catholic Philippines said fasting began on Saturday.
A cease-fire has curtailed fighting and fostered peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in recent years. Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq said the guerrillas would observe Ramadan but still defend themselves if attacked.
The Philippine military traditionally orders troops to refrain from offensives that could disrupt Ramadan in the southern regions where minority Muslims live. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda released a statement expressing solidarity with and goodwill toward Filipino Muslims in the holy month.
Bombs mars start of Ramadan in Thai south | ArabNews
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