An editorial in the respected Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram stated there was no doubt this month of Ramadan comes amid critical circumstances facing Muslims in all parts of the world and an increase in campaigns linking Muslims with terrorism. Muslims also enter this holy month grieved by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the possibility of a unilaterally led war against Iraq adding to the misery of its people.
Even in Australia, the 500,000 Muslims have reported a dramatic increase in the number of attacks on them and their homes in the past year as overseas and domestic events fuel anti-Muslim sentiments. The significance of Ramadan in Islam is to mark God’s revelation of the Holy Qur’an to our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) over 1400 years ago. Muslims all over the world receive Ramadan with the joys of life and strengthen their bonds with Allah in order to enhance love between one another.
They end the month with more joy and satisfaction having established deeper belief in their Creator. Their genuine reward is in happy family reunions around the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr. This Ramadan, more than any before, most Muslims are saddened, grieved, confused and in despair. They do not seem to progress with time or gain credit for good deeds. They lose by atrocities of widely publicized outlaw Muslims who carry out indiscriminate terrorist attacks on the innocent while powerful responsible Western governments unilaterally take international law in their hands, aimlessly attacking millions of Muslims in pursuit of the outlaws.
The International Herald Tribune reported that one Muslim said there was no longer any reason for optimism because the situation of the Arabs simply worsens every year. There is no longer happiness in Ramadan nor do worshipers feel anything but sadness due to the dangers surrounding us. Feelings of despair among Muslims are not confined to the Middle East but are present among them all over the world.
Muslims are grieved by the attacks on innocent people by both outlaws and insensitive governments of the world which treat the lives of the millions of Muslims lightly while aimlessly pursuing a few outlaws. Adding insult to injury, these governments appear not to coordinate their plans or share their intentions in spite of all the support others offer them.
What is left is to agree silently in the aspirations of the Australian Muslim Organizations in its call to all extremists of the world to reconsider their actions as they are hurting the people they claim to represent. There is no political, religious, racial, ethnic or ideological position to justify victimizing the innocent and the defenseless. Why all this happens from responsible world governments is a mystery to the millions of Muslims.
However, in the case of Iraq, The Financial Times of Oct. 24 says: The search for the real reason for the Bush administration’s Iraq policy ignores the obvious. Mr. Hussein has proved himself a menace to regional and global security on numerous occasions. Sept. 11 fundamentally altered the way Americans perceive threats to their security in a way that simply cannot be fully appreciated. The premium on action to pre-empt such threats is higher than it has ever been in US foreign policy deliberations.
Ramadan is more than simply refraining from physical pleasures from dawn to dusk. It is not confined to Islam. Fasting exists in all religions under different names and practices. It disengages the soul and the devil, to help and not to kill or to take the law unilaterally in one’s powerful hands.
11 November 2002