Kiir calls on Muslims to increase prayers for peace during holy month of Ramadan

August 13, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The President of the semi-autonomous southern Sudan, General Salva Kiir Mayardit, on Friday called on Sudanese Muslims to increase prayers for peace and love during the holy month of Ramadan.

In his Ramadan message to Muslims as they started fasting on Thursday, Kiir urged Muslims to observe fasting and strengthen their spiritual renewal of love and peace. Fasting is a fundamental pillar in Islam which every able Muslim must observe. President Kiir also asked Sudanese to use this period to pray for the country to have peaceful and free referendum.

The 2005 peace deal, known as Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), allows the region to hold an internationally monitored referendum on self-determination for the people of southern Sudan to decide on whether or not they should remain as part of a united Sudan.

A similar referendum will be held for the Abyei region predominantly inhabited by Dinka Ngok who were transferred to northern Sudan in 1905 and are ancestrally linked to the Dinka ethnic group of southern Sudan.

The proposed date for the conduct of referendum is 9 January 2011 and will go on for seven days. However, should the required turnout percentage or number of registered voters – agreed by the two parties in the referendum – be less than 60% in the first round of voting, a second round of voting would be held within sixty days from the first poll.

While southern Sudan and Abyei are allowed for referendum, a popular consultation for the people of Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile states will be held. Both the Nuba Mountains and southern Blue Nile state fought alongside the south for more than two decades against the Khartoum government over marginalization and lack of equitable power sharing and development.

“Our country is heading towards referendum. I urge all peace loving believers to pray for peace during this holy month,” Kiir said.

Muslim fasting is based on a special lunar calendar which begins when the thin crescent of the Moon is sighted in the western sky after sunset within a day or so after new moon.

According to Islamic principles, fasting during Ramadan is prescribed to every healthy adult Muslim. The weak, sick, children, travelers and pregnant women are exempt from fasting during this month.

In Islamic teachings, those observing fasting are not only required to abstain from eating and drinking, but also from consuming oral medicine and injecting fluids of nutritional value. Fasting lasts from dawn to sunset.

(ST)