BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – Fifty-nine-year-old Muslim convert Leoncio “Guy” Garcia of Ledesma St., City Proper has started fasting.
Like other fellow Muslims here, he is marking the month-long Ramadan that officially kicked off yesterday.
“To show my devotion to Allah, I spend the daylight hours in complete fasting,” Garcia, a businessman, told Panay News.
Garcia converted to Islam in 2000 after his second marriage failed. His faith has kept him strong, he said.
In the Muslim world, Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, improvement and increased devotion and worship.
Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam.
Garcia said he had been observing Ramadan for the past 14 years since he converted to Islam.
From dawn until sunset, he refrains from consuming food, drinking liquid, smoking and engaging in sexual relations.
“These are part of my self-sacrifices,” said Garcia.
Food and drinks are served daily but only before sunrise and after sunset
Fasting is obligatory for adult Muslims, except those who are ill, traveling, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic or going through menstrual bleeding.
This annual observance is regarded as one of the pillars of Islam. The others are performing pilgrimage in the Holy Land of Mecca, praying five times a day, and offering material and financial aid to the needy.
Garcia had worked as a nurse in United States and now owns a pawnshop here. Though a busy businessman, he said he always finds time to pray.
During Ramadan, “I only eat food during nighttime. I go to our mosque in La Paz every Friday.”
The Muslim community in this city maintains a mosque in Brgy. Magdalo, La Paz district.
A report from the government news portal, Philippine Information Agency placed the number of Muslims in Iloilo City at 3,000. They are mostly engaged in business.
According to Islam, the rewards of fasting are many, but during Ramadan they are believed to be multiplied.
The fasting typically includes the increased offering of prayers and recitation of the Quran.
Garcia’s personal life is telenovela material. Then a Christian, he married his first wife, a native of Nueva Ecija province, in July 5, 1996 after he returned from the US. He, however, discovered too late that she was already married.
Five years after the collapse of his first marriage, Garcia met an Ilongga from Maasin town. He fell in love again and both tied the knot.
The marriage, however, did not last and the bitter marital rift reached the court.
“After that, I converted to Islam and I vowed to Allah I will be devoted to him,” Garcia said./PN
