A mass prayer
As the first day of spring rolled in, promising sunshine and new beginnings, so to did the first day of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. During the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims from all nations unify in a period of spiritual reflection. Fasting takes place from sunrise to sunset, with abstinence from food and drink. In the evenings, the followers engage in prayer, reading from the Qu’ran, their holy script. Ramadan is a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God and practice self-sacrifice, and to re-evaluate life in light of Islamic guidance.
I am no advocate for religion, I must admit. But, after reading OhmyNews’ article ‘Welcome Ramadan: Truce Announced in Pakistan’, my faith in faith was lifted. Pakistan is said to have suspended all military operations against local Talibans for the month of Ramadan. The government has encouraged civilians to return to their homes and celebrate the holy month with clarity in this time of total peace and political calm.
There have also been calls for peace in Sudan. According to the Sudanese Tribune, the peacekeeping mission in Darfur UNIMID has called on Sudanese parties to declare a truce for the occasion of Ramadan. However, in both Sudan and Pakistan, there is no guarantee that these ceasefires will take effect, or that any peace at all will be achieved. Only time will tell in this instance.
This mere call for peace, at least, elicits a sense of hope. What needs to be called in to question here though, is that if the Islam religion so strictly acknowledges the worship of God and spiritual purification during Ramadan, then why not for the remaining months of the year? Why cleans the soul, only to tarnish it again with the ramifications of war?
The internal wars (and I stress the plural) occurring in the middle-east and Africa are more complicated than I could even begin to comprehend myself, let alone try to explain it to anybody else. I am the first to admit that I understand very little about the many aspects of the conflicts or even the intricacies of Ramadan and the Islamic religion.
However, what I will say on the issue is this: faith, in many forms, plays a large role in many peoples lives around the world. But it seems to me that while religious followers are in constant search of gratification and forgiveness from their God, their actions (and I stress that I do not apply this solely to Islamic people, or any specific religions or nations for that matter) during times of war and conflict only contribute to the list of actions for which they must seek forgiveness.
If I were a believer in religion I would pray for peace for the nations affected by violent conflict. But because I am not, I can only hope that those who are believers work toward peace for the long term, and not just in the ‘holy’ hours, days, or months of their religious calendars.
September 10, 2008 at 3:58 am |
The connection between religious extremism and war is something I’m yet to get my head around. It might be that I am not personally experienced in the field of religion with its commands and morals, but I’m pretty sure that “thau shall not kill” and “turn the other cheek” is part of at least Christianity…? The connection between Christianity and warfare has been highlighted in past weeks with gov. Sarah Palin embodying as much belief in Christianity as in the Iraq war. I really, sincerely would like to get this explained to me. The same confusion arises when one tries to find a logic in death penalty vs. abortion issues. Killing is fine as long as it’s state controlled? One can suspect that for Bush and his friends, religion has never been taken that serious for other than image reasons, but for Sarah Palin it seems to be a lifestyle, a sincere belief. Or is the religion of Americanism simply a different kind of Christianity, where “thau shall not kill” is silently followed by “if consent from government is not given”…. ? As for Ramadan, you would think that they would find the break from killing pleasurable enough to make a habit of…
September 10, 2008 at 4:32 am |
Doctrinally speaking all of the Abrahamic faiths put forward an absolute monolithic conceptualization of the almighty. The fight over whose God is the true God has torn the world asunder for centuries and it looks as though it will continue to do so for many years to come.
Harriet.
September 10, 2008 at 4:45 am |
There are differing rules of war and warfare that have been followed by opponents in conflicts thorughout history. For example the winter months were a time when fighting ceased in Great Brittan both pre and post roman invasion and occupation. The fighting would be resumed with the spring. My point is that to whislt organised religion does have some answering to do, the ettiquette of war have been adhered to. I feel that in terms of war those of the Islamic faith are always constructed to have a certain amount of blood lust for a fight or the religion itself is predisposed to violence which it is not. This article reinforces the negative steroetypes that are associated with Islam, and constructs them to be religious dupes in the sense that they can wipe their moral slates clean once a year every year during Ramadan and be free to cause havoc for the rest of the year.
September 10, 2008 at 5:19 am |
It has been put forward that Innika has gone some way in relying on the negative sterotypes associated with the Islamic faith to produce this piece. I would disagree with this proposition. Innika has pointed out the paradox of organised religion. That being that killing others will damn you to hell unless in is lustified. It is old, I would never do that…BUT!
I do beilieve that Islam is constructed by Western commentators to be intrinsically violent. From my understanding of the religion this is not so. I would suggest that most religions give their followers certain get out of jail free cards, all actions whether good or bad can be justified in some way by doctrine or religious text. Why is this any different for Islam?