From ST: The Pink Dot event has been held on the last Saturday of June for the past three years. A spokesman for the organisers said they went ahead with this years event on June 28 after checking with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) website that Ramadan begins on June 29. However, the wear white campaign has stated that June 28 is actually the 1st of Ramadan. So why this discrepancy? The answer lies in how the beginning of a day is defined in the Muslim lunar (Hijri) calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, a new date is calculated at 12 midnight, but in the Muslim calendar, it begins at sunset. One of the ways of determining the beginning of a month is by observing the appearance of the hilal, or crescent of the new moon. (This is why the crescent moon is often used as a symbol in Islam, popularised by both the Ottomans and the Mughals.) Another way, used by MUIS, is the hisab method, which is to determine the day via mathematical/astronomical calculations. So technically, the night of June 28 *is* the 1st day of Ramadan. The question is, were the Pink Dot organisers expected to know this? It seemed that they did their due diligence based on their understanding of the calendar, and the MUIS timetable they consulted did not highlight this Hijri-Gregorian discrepancy. So accusations that they were insensitive or expressed disdain for Islam are unwarranted. A few last thoughts: 1) If you see some Muslims at the Pink Dot event, dont ask them are you supposed to be fasting today? They begin fasting only on June 29. 2) The Pink Dot organisers might wish to avoid holding the event during Ramadan next year (which begins on June 18) so as to prevent others from extracting political mileage from an apparent clash. 3) I dont believe that criticism of one event amounts to uncritical support of the other. I am against framing Pink Dot and wear white as antithetical, and that there are sides you have to choose in an absolutist game of youre either with us, or against us. One can choose to be neutral, or one can choose positions that reject imposed binaries. I have had my own reservations about Pink Dot--its commercialisation, for example, its tiptoeing around direct political action, its avoidance of the messy radical queer. And I have my own reservations about wear white, especially after one of the video participants pulled out and because Im not comfortable with the siege-mentality language they use and the politicisation of tarawih prayers towards a singular anti-gay cause. 4) I have been called a contrarian by some LGBTs and a bad Muslim by some Muslims but to me the labeling begins when the appreciation for nuance ends.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 08:39:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015