As the holy month of Ramadan fast approaches, the leadership of Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, the umbrella body of all Islamic organisations in Nigeria, has extended to midnight the time forsighting of the crescent of the new moon.

The announcement was contained in a communiqué of the JNI after its annual pre-Ramadan conference which held in Kaduna last weekend.

The Communiqué, which was signed by the chairman of the organising committee of the conference, Sambo Junaidu, and the secretary-general of the JNI, Khalid Aliyu, urged Muslims all over the country “to look for the crescent and follow the appropriate channel to communicate any information to His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, who is the sole authority to announce the sighting of the moon in the country.”

It also said, “In the same vein, the Ramadan moon sighting reporting time has been extended to 12 midnight, to allow for deeper scrutiny of the reported sight of the crescent and to foreclose any further controversies on the issue.”

The Sultan usually announces the sighting of the crescent between the hours of 9 and 10 pm.

However, there was controversy last year after the announcement was made very late and many persons went to bed without knowing that the new crescent had been sighted.

CEOAFRICA correspondent gathered that the  JNI also called on Islamic clerics to utilise their respective Tafsir sessions in the holy month of Ramadan to educate Muslims to be god-fearing, to emphasise the fundamental Islamic teachings, and  refrain from issues that could divide the people and cause mutual mistrust as well as tension among Muslims and people of other faiths.

The conference also called on all media houses that air Ramadan Tafsir to censor tapes capable of destabilising the people.

It also urged businessmen in the country, especially those selling essential commodities, to reduce costs, in order to attract Allah’s blessings and forgiveness during and after the Ramadan.

“In pursuance to its humanitarian relief efforts, the JNI under its leadership donated 450 tonnes of rice and 60 tonnes of edible oil to ameliorate the suffering of the IDPs in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano and Kaduna states and calls on well meaning Nigerians to do more,” the communiqué said.

The conference was chaired by the Sultan of Soko to and President-General of JNI, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and attended by the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar El-Kanemi;  the Emir of Gwandu, Muhammadu Ilyasu Bashar, and a cross-section of distinguished Emirs and erudite Muslim scholars, intellectuals and various leaders of Muslim organisations from all parts of the country.