Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, starts today. According to our friends at Wikipedia:
… participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, sexual conduct, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. Muslims also believed through good actions, they get rewarded seventy times as much as they normally can achieve. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.
Let us pray in solidarity with our Islamic sisters and brothers during the next month.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Eric 08.22.09 at 12:29 pm
Thank you for posting this. The truth is we have negative thought and feelings toward certain Muslims, and we tend to blame Islam itself. We need to remember that the world’s hundreds of millions of Muslims are God’s beloved just as we are.
Regina 08.22.09 at 12:58 pm
Thanks for the post, Paul. If I might also add, we should be aware that fasting (especially as the day wears on), can be difficult. If we have Muslim co-workers, it’s good idea to downplay the office snacks during the next month. (We Catholics appreciate it during Lent, too, of course.)
Paul 08.25.09 at 7:07 am
Eric,
I like to think of myself as non-prejudiced, but I have to admit that since 9/11, I have had a more negative view of Islam. I think a lot of the anti-Islamic sentiment was ginned up by the governement and the media, but that does not excuse my participation in the negativity.
As a teenager from Belfast, Northern Ireland, I got fed up with being stereo-typed as a potential terrorist. You’d think I’d resolve not to do the same to others…
Paul
Paul 08.25.09 at 7:10 am
Regina,
How right you are that we should be sensitive to the circumstances of our Islamic and other coworkers.
Forgive me for turning to the lighter side of things, but I support your idea of downplaying snacks, not just for religious reasons, but to help the weak-willed like me. Here at the Press we seem to have a bevy of bakers who bring in delicious treats all the time. I protest about it, but I’m the first one in the kitchen filling my plate.
Paul