If you're from Singapore, you probably used to have the Mufti announce the Ramadhan and every Singaporean will fast according to what Mufti has declared. There was a year when every country has celebrated their Eid but Singapore was still fasting. Despite some Singapore Muslims 'mock' the Mufti, everyone still follow and abide to continue to fast. Some might got pissed and drove to Johor to break their fast early.
Here in Australia, there's a board of imams and council too. So the head imam of Australia will issue out a fatwa. Naturally we will follow the fatwa because we believe so. Even for my daughter's islamic school, they followed the fatwa. Confusion for me happened when my Melbourne friends start to fast a day later than us. Apparently it's a norm here every year. There will be some who followed the fatwa and some who did the moonsighting. Please bear in mind, it has been several years that Melbourne hasn't seen the New Moon to welcome Ramadhan.
Frankly, we are very new to Melbourne so I learnt that your local mosque may or may not follow the fatwa. And this difference is REALLY OKAY. The important thing is your niat and May Allah swt accept and reward your good deeds and fasting.
It took me a few days to be okay. In my mind, how can I celebrate Eid if my friends in southeast still fasting? I hate the uneasy feeling because I have kids and one day they will ask me questions about this difference. Alhamdulilah after reading a few scholar articles and spoke to our Ustaz here, the video he shared satisfied my knowledge. The video validated my belief and understanding too.
I finally make peace.
Anyway, there's bazaar Ramadhan, buffets and Terawihs. Children can also go to the mosque and be looked after. There's musollahs too for those who finds travelling to the mosque is far.
How celebratory is it?
Not marked in the calendar as a OZ public holiday but widely announced about Ramadhan in the TV news and radio. If you're reading this in the month of Ramadhan... Ramadhan Kareem, my friend.
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