T

housands of members of the Naqsabandiyah sect of Islam in Padang, West Sumatra, will start the Ramadhan fasting month on Tuesday, before the majority of the country'€™s Muslims.

Muhammadiyah, the country'€™s second-largest Muslim organization, earlier announced it would start Ramadhan on Thursday, while the government is still waiting for the result of the Itsbat meeting involving ulemas from different sects.

As it uses the hisab munjid method, the Naqsabandiyah sect in Padang always starts Ramadhan two days earlier than Muhammadiyah and sometimes three days earlier that the date set by the government.

The same thing occurs when the group determines the date of Idul Adha (the Day of Sacrifice) and Idul Fitri (the celebration marking the end of Ramadhan).

'€œOur calendar is similar to the Christian calendar with months consisting of exactly 30 days and a year of 360 days. The first of Syawal [Idul Fitri] this year falls on Thursday, July 16,'€ Syafri Malin Mudo, the leader of the Naqsabandiyah congregation in Padang, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The hisab munjid method, according to the sect'€™s 75-year-old leader, was created in the era of Khalifah Umar Bin Khatab, or year 17 of the Islamic Hijriah calendar. The method was later adopted by Naqsabandiyah in Padang.

Naqsabandiyah also differs from Muhammadiyah in the composition of the rakaat (prayers) in the Tarawih, prayers said after breaking the fast.

While Muhammadiyah ordains 11 rakaat including the Witir prayer, Naqsabandiyah uses 22 rakaat including Witir.

'€œWe perform the prayer according to the Prophet'€™s teaching,'€ said Syafri, or Buya Pii, as his congregation affectionately calls him.

Like the Sattariyah Islamic congregation, which has more members in Padang, Naqsabandiyah also conducts the so-called suluk for 40 days for new members.

Suluk is aimed at emptying an adherent'€™s mind from worldly matters and concentrating it on God. As such, during suluk, the new recruit is required to recite dhikr 10,000 times throughout an entire day and night, among other duties.

For existing members of the congregation, suluk may last for 30, 20 or 10 days.

'€œFor 40 days the participants are not allowed to go home. Otherwise, their concentration will be disturbed by outside information or impure words that may detract from their worship,'€ Syafri said.

Naqsabandiyah was established in Padang by a local cleric, Muhammad Thaib, in 1910. He resided in Mecca for 20 years before returning to his home village in Pauh district, Padang city.

With permission from a local custom leader, he developed a worship house in Pauh. Later his pupils established new worship houses across Padang. Currently the group has 50 worship houses and 1,500 members in the city.

Despite being different from the majority of Muslims, Naqsabandiyah is tolerated, since it was established by a local cleric. The sect'€™s differences are not considered problematic by local mainstream Muslims.

Across West Sumatra there are an estimated 10,000 followers of Naqsabandiyah.

Other strongholds of the group include the regencies of Limapuluh Kota, Tanah Datar, Pasaman, Padangpariaman, Pesisir Selatan and Solok Selatan. The group is also present in Riau and North Sumatra, but not all adherents observe the calendar used by Naqsabandiyah in Padang.