Ramadan is a time for true reflection

Jun 26, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
For Muslims, Ramadan is generally a time for reflection, being thankful and remembering how many blessings we are privileged to have. It is also a source of great pride that within both of my home countries (Guyana and the United States) we enjoy the freedom to worship and be Muslims, my daughters have rights, can wear whatever they choose and be full participants in a peaceful, free society.
Unfortunately, however, many Muslims live under horribly violent circumstances and still others are brutalized by inhuman cultural practices in their countries. The unrelenting, infectious wave of hate that seems to be sweeping our planet has yet to indicate when it will recede and subside. The heart-breaking truth as a Muslim, is that the religion that once introduced the wisdom of ancient civilizations to scholars in Medieval Europe, is now serving as a crutch for those who preach wanton destruction; the anathema of human civilization. They misinterpret the words of God to serve ignorance.
One of the stories I constantly remind my daughters about is when the Quran was first introduced to the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), the angel Gabriel admonished him to “Read!” doing so repeatedly, berating him to read and understand the words being revealed. The significance of this is enormous; being that the first instruction to our Prophet was to read and gain knowledge. Yet, these many centuries later, the loudest and most dangerous voices are preaching and propagating everything that is the opposite of knowledge and understanding.
This will cease only when we Muslims universally find the moral courage to rebut and reject discrimination and division and the false belief that others do not deserve rights because they look, behave, worship, or live differently than ourselves. These advocates of violence begin with language that vilifies and segregates, denigrating all who are outside of an arbitrarily determined ‘acceptable’ boundary.
This particular Ramadan I have been repeatedly horrified by the deadly events that have occurred, but, it is both selfish and arrogantly insular to think that it does not or cannot eventually affect our comfortable lives. All violence and hatefulness is obscenely fertile, it effortlessly spawns similar sentiments and actions, and will continue to do so, until we all resolutely and absolutely say it is simply not ‘ok’ and take concrete steps to defeat Islamist extremism and radicalization.
At that time, an important victory will have been won by us all, when we decide never to use the unyielding polemics of religion, ethnicity, misogyny, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, etc. as the flimsy justifications for propagating hate and intolerance, selectively invalidating and denying our compassion and empathy to those we consider unworthy.
Islam was once known for spreading scientific knowledge and enlightenment, promoting peace by codifying human rights that protected women and the vulnerable, abjectly rejecting the coarseness of ignorance. I, for one, refuse to cede the belief in this Islam to radicals and extremists. Peace has to be possible, but it requires a collective and conscientious effort.
Scheherazade Ishoof Khan

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