MUSLIMS celebrate Mauluddin Nabi on Friday.
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Work in government and private offices here and other provinces in the Zamboanga Peninsula were suspended Friday in observance of Mauluddin Nabi or the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
The suspension was contained in a memorandum issued by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) on Aug. 25.
The declaration of Mauluddin Nabi as a legal holiday was pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1063, the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines.
Under Artile 170 of RA 1063, the holiday shall be observed in the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and the cities of Cotabato, Iligan, Marami, Pagadian, and Zamboanga.
Under the law, Muslim employees in other places are also excused from reporting for work to enable them to observe the holiday.
Muslims here gathered for prayers in mosques and spent the day with their loved ones.