BBC’s Umaru Fofana Calls For Pubic Holiday to be Declared After Laylat Al-Qadr ‘Night of Power’

BBC reporter in Sierra Leone, Umaru Fofana has called on the government to declare a public holiday after Laylat Al-Qadr ‘the Night of Power’ due to fatigue and tiredness Muslims suffered the following day.

Umaru Fofana made this passionate plea on a social media post.

“Today is the 27th day of Ramadan. But this post is not about counting down the holy month. This is about making an impassioned appeal to the authorities in Sierra Leone in the interest of fairness and productivity,” he stated.

According to Fofana, it is very difficult to have spent most of the night observing Laylat al-Qadr and go to work the same day.

This is the Night of Power on which God revealed the Holy Quran to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The day itself is not certain but the 26th night is usually observed as such.

“Ramadan, the holiest Muslim month, does not have a SINGLE day as a public holiday in Sierra Leone. I think that is unfair, especially in a Muslim-majority country,” he stated.

“The Eid holiday is related to Ramadan, but it is outside the month. Will it be too much to ask that the 27th day of Ramadan be made a public holiday. It’s the holiest night on the Islamic calendar. Laylat al-Qadr is exhausting! It is very difficult for people who observed the night to go to work today,” the BBC reporter asserted.

“I am not a big fan of holidays. Many of our public holidays in Sierra Leone are unnecessary, especially when they are carried forward to Monday if they fall on a weekend. I think we can scrap that policy, if we should, and accommodate a day like today. Please!” Umaru Fofanah stated.