By Abdul Rashid Agwan,MM News,
The basic purpose of Ramadan is to develop and enhance piety among believers. However, there are some other widows which the month opens. One great teaching of the holy month is that humanity is bound by a religious unity.
Take for reflection the verse, “The month of Ramadan is that in which was revealed the Quran; a guidance for mankind.” Evidently, the Quran is not a sectarian book, limited to a particular tribe, land or people. But, as said, it is an inspiration for all mankind.
Another verse further expands the canvas of religious connectivity of people by telling, “O believers! Observing the fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you.” Here it has been brought home that fasting is not a new injunction to Muslims but it has been an age-old practice for inculcating piety and righteousness among the cross-sections of mankind. In fact all religious communities have their own ways of fasting for achieving the desired piety.
Once there was a custom of month-long fasting prevalent among Hindus, which is not extant now. Yet, Hindu devotees keep fasts in different spells of a year and in different ways. Manu Smriti prescribes fasting for a whole lunar month, called Chandrayan Vrat. Roman Catholics observe fasting and/or abstinence on a number of days throughout the year. The Lenten fast observed in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church is a forty-day partial fast. Traditionally, observant Jews fast six days a year including the one on Yom Kippur. In Jainism when the fast is for one month it is called as Maskhamana. In Buddhism, refraining from eating after noon till the following morning is prescribed in the eight precepts of common Buddhists. In fact, fasting is a universal religious tradition, as denoted by the Quran.
There is the third element of interfaith bond associated with Ramadan. A number of narrations from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) point out that the revelation of all revealed books started in this month only. In various narrations from the prophet, it has been mentioned that the Suhuf Ibrahim was revealed on the first day of Ramadan, Zubur on the 12th day of the month and Injil on the 18th.
Thus, Ramadan links Muslims to other religious communities by instilling in them the feeling that there is a string of guidance from a common source, by whatever name He is called. They should not just rejoice that the Quran was revealed in this month but they should share this exultation with other religious communities that all revealed books were sent down in this month. They should try to transcend to the reality beyond the apparent religious differences prevailing due to historical reasons.
[The contributor is a known interfaith activist and an author of many books including his recent rendering “Islam in 21st Century: The Dynamics of Change and Future-making”. He may be contacted on agwan@rediffmail.com]