The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began Monday, and not in the usual way. Five suicide bombers took 34 lives and wounded dozens of others. More bombings and violence followed Tuesday and is likely to continue for the rest of the lunar month.
Ramadan is not supposed to be about violence, it’s supposed to be about preparing to receive the word of God. In Muslim tradition, the prophet Mohammed received the Quran, the holy book of Islam, on the last night of the ninth month of the year. Observant – and even non-observant – Muslims commemorate the month in a way that resembles a combination of the Christian traditions of Advent and Lent. During daylight hours of Ramadan, adult Muslims abstain from food, liquids, tobacco and sex. Ritual meals are eaten before dawn and after sunset. It’s traditional to break the fast with dates and water, as Mohammed did. After the evening meal, visits are exchanged among family and friends; Ramadan is a time for reinforcing blood and community bonds. Because Muslims are symbolically preparing themselves to receive the word of Allah, deeds, – both good and ill – performed during Ramadan carry more weight than in other months of the year.
Given all that, why would five suicide bombers take to the streets of Baghdad on the first day of Ramadan? First, it sends a message of Islamic fundamentalism. Most Muslims consider acts of terrorism abhorrent, although extremists drawn to fundamentalism see westerners as infidels and look upon the killing of westerners and the Muslims who consort with them as acts of piety. This notion is emphasized by the militants’ weapon of choice, the suicide bomb. They probably believed their act would gain them instant admission into paradise. Second, Muslim tradition holds that on the last night of Ramadan – Laylat-al-Qadr – Allah sets the tone for the year to come. The militants, thinking they act on Allah’s behalf, will try to work Iraq into a frenzy of violence in the next four weeks and therefore ensure a holy war for the coming year. Such thinking can be dangerously infectious. We should not be surprised to see similar outbreaks of violence in Afghanistan, Kashmir, India, Pakistan, Israel and America.
Again, let me emphasize that while the supply of Islamic militants was not significantly decreased by the five suicides Monday, these people are by far the minority in the Muslim world. For analogy, we have our own regrettable fundamentalist example in General William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, who has spent a good part of the past two years telling Christian audiences that the U.S. is engaged in a battle with Satan and that Christians worship God while Muslims worship idols. Just as General Boykin’s mean and narrow mind does not represent the vast majority of Christians, so do suicide bombers misrepresent the vast majority of Muslims.
It’s sad to report that fundamentalists – Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Hindu – have moved themselves to front-line positions in our current world at war. Worse still, the fundamentalists are fighting in two directions – against those they call unbelievers and also against their fellow believers, whom they judge to be wanting because we do not share their fanatical righteousness.
Witness the cultural and political war taking place in America today. Look to Israel and India and almost every Muslim nation and see the same war of fundamentalism versus moderation. The internal wars, the cultural and political wars being waged within nations and religions around the world are not yet as bloody as the clashes between the opposing fundamentalists, but if we moderates do not prevail in our cultural struggles, then there will be no end to the wars of the fundamentalists and things will get worse instead of better.
In the end, it is we who are on the front line in this ever-spreading conflict. We do not face the daily threat of death or mutilation that hangs over the soldier on patrol, but it is we who have the power to restrain our presidents and kings, our popes and rabbis and mullahs and if we fail to act, then it is we who will be responsible for the tone that is set for the year to come and perhaps for years thereafter.
Fundamental Issues
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began Monday, and not in the usual way. Five suicide bombers took 34 lives and wounded dozens of others. More bombings and violence followed Tuesday and is likely to continue for the rest of the lunar month.
Ramadan is not supposed to be about violence, it’s supposed to be about preparing to receive the word of God. In Muslim tradition, the prophet Mohammed received the Quran, the holy book of Islam, on the last night of the ninth month of the year. Observant – and even non-observant – Muslims commemorate the month in a way that resembles a combination of the Christian traditions of Advent and Lent. During daylight hours of Ramadan, adult Muslims abstain from food, liquids, tobacco and sex. Ritual meals are eaten before dawn and after sunset. It’s traditional to break the fast with dates and water, as Mohammed did. After the evening meal, visits are exchanged among family and friends; Ramadan is a time for reinforcing blood and community bonds. Because Muslims are symbolically preparing themselves to receive the word of Allah, deeds, – both good and ill – performed during Ramadan carry more weight than in other months of the year.
Given all that, why would five suicide bombers take to the streets of Baghdad on the first day of Ramadan? First, it sends a message of Islamic fundamentalism. Most Muslims consider acts of terrorism abhorrent, although extremists drawn to fundamentalism see westerners as infidels and look upon the killing of westerners and the Muslims who consort with them as acts of piety. This notion is emphasized by the militants’ weapon of choice, the suicide bomb. They probably believed their act would gain them instant admission into paradise. Second, Muslim tradition holds that on the last night of Ramadan – Laylat-al-Qadr – Allah sets the tone for the year to come. The militants, thinking they act on Allah’s behalf, will try to work Iraq into a frenzy of violence in the next four weeks and therefore ensure a holy war for the coming year. Such thinking can be dangerously infectious. We should not be surprised to see similar outbreaks of violence in Afghanistan, Kashmir, India, Pakistan, Israel and America.
Again, let me emphasize that while the supply of Islamic militants was not significantly decreased by the five suicides Monday, these people are by far the minority in the Muslim world. For analogy, we have our own regrettable fundamentalist example in General William Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, who has spent a good part of the past two years telling Christian audiences that the U.S. is engaged in a battle with Satan and that Christians worship God while Muslims worship idols. Just as General Boykin’s mean and narrow mind does not represent the vast majority of Christians, so do suicide bombers misrepresent the vast majority of Muslims.
It’s sad to report that fundamentalists – Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Hindu – have moved themselves to front-line positions in our current world at war. Worse still, the fundamentalists are fighting in two directions – against those they call unbelievers and also against their fellow believers, whom they judge to be wanting because we do not share their fanatical righteousness.
Witness the cultural and political war taking place in America today. Look to Israel and India and almost every Muslim nation and see the same war of fundamentalism versus moderation. The internal wars, the cultural and political wars being waged within nations and religions around the world are not yet as bloody as the clashes between the opposing fundamentalists, but if we moderates do not prevail in our cultural struggles, then there will be no end to the wars of the fundamentalists and things will get worse instead of better.
In the end, it is we who are on the front line in this ever-spreading conflict. We do not face the daily threat of death or mutilation that hangs over the soldier on patrol, but it is we who have the power to restrain our presidents and kings, our popes and rabbis and mullahs and if we fail to act, then it is we who will be responsible for the tone that is set for the year to come and perhaps for years thereafter.