Fasting from unholy practices

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 09/12/2007 2:26 PM | Opinion

Tomorrow, Muslims will start fasting for Ramadhan, when Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk.

This holy month is also a time for wealthy Muslims to give alms, spending more on those in need, including the poor, orphans and widows.

Fasting and giving alms are indeed hallmarks of Ramadhan. But in Indonesia, where Muslims are the majority, Ramadhan is more than that. It has a more pervasive effect on people's daily lives, from kitchen chores to work-related activities and education.

Housewives flock to markets, both traditional and modern, to shop for daily needs, especially foods for breaking the fast and the pre-dawn meal -- and surprisingly they seem to buy in larger bulk than usual.

Understandably, then, Ramadhan has become a regular cause for price inflation.

Equally pervasive, Islamic programs will fill the television and radio airwaves from the early hours of the day, to entertain and educate Muslims who have to wake up early for the pre-dawn meal.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with these practices, including the commercialization of Ramadhan. In fact, the fasting month has many positive effects on the economy: it creates more business transactions and spreads money from Jakarta and other big cities to other parts of the country.

From the perspective of nation building, however, Ramadhan often serves as a challenge. It is the month where religious tolerance and pluralism is most put to the test.

In the past, the fasting month has been tainted by attacks by hardline groups on nightclubs and other places they considered ""dens of vice"". Some groups have even forced food stalls to close during the day.

We sincerely hope there will not be a repeat of such incidents this Ramadhan. We call on the police to prevent such attacks by letting these groups know they will come down hard on them if there is any trouble.

These types of actions by radical groups violate the principles of the fasting month, which promotes forbearance and tolerance.

Many Muslims often become intolerant of other faiths during Ramadhan. Muslims in many neighborhoods conduct early morning patrols, complete with unmelodious musical instruments, to wake up Muslims for the pre-dawn meal, or sahur, without considering people of other faiths who live in the neighborhood.

Some people use the loudspeakers in their mosques to make wake-up calls, again in complete disregard for those who may not want to wake up.

To make this Ramadhan more meaningful, let us all look at these Ramadhan routines in a more critical manner, so that we can become better Muslims.

If we look into the philosophy of fasting, it is more than just abstaining from food, drink and sex. It is abstaining from any unholy practice, from more minor things like depriving people of their right to enjoy a good night's sleep to serious offenses like corruption and murder.

If more Muslims would embrace the essence of fasting instead of just the routine, there would be fewer Muslims plundering public money, setting off bombs to kill innocent people and threatening Muslims and non-Muslims alike with raids and other unholy practices.

In addition to fasting, Ramadhan encourages Muslims, especially the wealthy ones, to extend help to the needy. Again, the essence is not just encouraging Muslims to give alms to the poor, but helping the poor escape poverty.

With this understanding, we hope we can fill up this Ramadhan with activities to not only advance our taqwa, or service to God, but also to improve the well-being of our fellow humans, especially the poor. In this way, we will see a better and more prosperous Indonesia.

Selamat berpuasa. Happy fasting.

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