Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Ramadan – Month of Peace and Compassion

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Ramadan – Month of Peace and Compassion

US President Barack Obama and other American leaders have felicitated Muslims on the beginning of Ramadan, pledging to work with them for promoting peace and stability. President Obama said that Ramadan was a time to “reinforce faith, compassion and forgiveness, and perseverance through adversity.” He noted that in this month of giving, Muslims around the globe reach out to assist those afflicted by conflict, hunger, poverty and disease. “In the United States, American Muslims join their fellow citizens to serve the less fortunate, hosting inter-faith activities that build understanding and remind us that we stand together as one American family,” he continued.

There is no doubt that the propitious month of Ramadan is a spiritual therapy for Muslims to strengthen their faiths and moral values. One has to nurture his/her virtue and human practices and curtail their megalomania and cupidity. In other words, the individuals should break the chains of Satanism and free their souls from the yoke of worldly pleasures.

US Secretary of State John Kerry affirmed that one of the core elements of the US diplomacy was “our desire to communicate clearly with others in support of the fundamental rights and dignity of every human being”.

He said Ramadan was also a time to reflect on awareness of the responsibility of people of all faiths to help those in need, including those stricken by poverty and the victims of conflict in such countries as Burma, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

In Ramadan, men’s “rights and dignity” have to be protected and the ideologue militants also must eschew from spilling the human’s blood. Violence and bloodshed are the most abominable acts – especially in the month of Ramadan.

Ill-fatedly, the militants violate men’s natural rights to life and liberty without an iota of mercy. The Taliban and Daesh remain the epitome of cruelty and inhumanity as ever before through killing people in the worst possible way. Besides slaying the individuals, the Taliban militants collect Zakat (charity fund) in restive parts of the country by coercion and threat – reports say.

Of late, Afghan government urged the militants to cease insurgency in the holy month of Ramadan and let the public practice their religious rituals. But the militants turned down this request. In response to the Taliban’s rejection of a ceasefire request, President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani said, “They don’t have any way to escape the prayers of upset mothers and orphans, and they cannot get rid of the anger of our devoted and patriotic soldiers who are ever ready for tackling insurgents.” Mr. Ghani further said that war has been imposed on Afghanistan and its continuation will increase poverty in the country.

Afghans are highly exhausted from this endless insurgency which was inflicted upon them and led to heavy casualties. They pray for peace and wish to breathe safely in a serene atmosphere. The newspapers’ tragic headlines and gory pictures of the killed and wounded individuals on televisions are really traumatic for the public. To their unmitigated chagrin, there seems no panacea for their bleeding hearts. Neither the counterterrorism campaign nor a democratic state could remedy their problems.

The world knows that both the ideologue and mercenary insurgents, whether in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Nigeria, lack humanity and moral norms and never answer to the call of their conscience positively. Their insatiable thirst for violence and carnage and physical pleasures, such as Jihad-e Nikah enunciated by IS militants in Syria, has outweighed their humanity. Therefore, I believe that the Taliban militants will never agree to the message of peace issued by the Afghan government.

The oozing blood of innocent individuals spilt by the militants in the aforementioned countries by religious radicals and stigmatizing the reputation of modest females and transgressing their inalienable and inviolable rights and dignity have caused Islam-phobia in many western countries. In another term, the extremists have imposed their own ideology on religion and tailored the religious convictions in the narrow frame of their mindset and now introduce this self-made worldview as religious beliefs. Their toxic ideology is highly detrimental not only to the Middle east but to the world. In such a case, the message of peace will be futile and misunderstanding widens. In short, since the militants’ beliefs are based on wrong ideology – which lacks true knowledge and religious tolerance – they will not be humanized in this holy month of Ramadan. As a result, currently the Taliban’s attacks continue unabated in restive parts of the country and their mala fide intentions have not been extenuated at all. It is really a state of sorry to see that the holy month of Ramadan has been politicized negatively.

Ramadan is considered to be the month of compassion and devotion. People are supposed to inject new life to their faith and be humanized through communing with Almighty Allah in the heart of nights and refrain not only from eating and drinking but from all evils and misdeeds. The afflicted individuals and have-not neighbors must be supported and sympathized and all the rights and dignity must be protected. We have to fight against the inner and outer lusts and temptations so as to polish our souls. After all, practicing moral values for a month should last for the whole year and we have to embed bona fide humanity in our mind and spirit.

 

Hujjatullah Zia is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at zia_hujjat@yahoo.com

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