During Ramadan, soldiers offer free Iftar to Muslims

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur — The Army’s 106th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in Imelda town, Zamboanga Sibugay has expressed solidarity with the Muslim faithful observing the holy month of Ramadan by offering Iftar, the evening meal to break the daylong fast.

Lt.Col. Anshary Pumbaya, 106th IB commanding officer, said they selected 30 mosques in the province.

The Iftar offerings started on March 12 in a local mosque in Poblacion Malangas town, serving around a hundred Muslim faithful.

READ: Bangsamoro Mufti declares start of Ramadan on March 12

Pumbaya said they intend to visit all the 30 mosques within the period of Ramadan when Muslims abstain from taking food and water from sunrise to sunset.

READ: Muslims begin 30-day fasting for Ramadan

He added that through this effort, they would get to understand better and build relations of trust among the province’s Muslim communities.

Sustaining good social relations, Pumbaya explains, is a key ingredient and indicator of peace.

“Providing simple food during Iftar to the Muslim communities will not only showcase the importance of giving but also a time of inspiration and an opportunity to come together, strengthen relationships, and show gratitude for all the blessings of life, especially the blessing of peace and unity among each and every one,” Pumbaya added.

Bangsamoro Mufti (Jurist) Sheikh Abdulrauf Guialani has declared that Ramadan started on Tuesday, March 12, after the moon, a key celestial marker for the start of the holy month, was not sighted during the moonsighting conducted by the Bangsamoro Darul Ifta on Sunday evening.

Ramadan is a sacred month in the Islamic calendar observed by Muslims worldwide as a time of fasting, prayer, reflection and charity.