We’re in the midst of my favourite time of the year. I always look forward to Ramadaan’s arrival.
Ramadaan is one of the five pillars of Islam, when Muslims observe a month of fasting. What I love most about the month is that its my opportunity to take stock.
It starts off with all my senses becoming heightened because I’m not eating. (I suffer from what is known as 'han-ger:' getting hungry to the extent that it makes you angry.)
As the month draws on I become the best version of myself. I become keenly aware of my fellow human beings and their circumstances. Hunger gives way to a sense of great inner strength, peace and spirituality.
And ja there is also the promise of amazing Ramadaan treats to break the fast, like boeber, dhaltjies, samoosas and pumpkin fritters, to name a few.
There is also the unmistakable spirit of tolerance, community, generosity and goodwill.
This year, Ramadaan comes at a time when these things are most needed. There is a far more urgent message that needs to be shared this time round, than just personal development and fulfillment.
I found myself disappointed at Friday prayers last week. I didn’t go to my usual mosque but was expecting the Muslim leadership to address the dangerous situation playing out in Verulam in KwaZulu-Natal where an imam was killed. An undetonated explosive device was found outside the building just days later. These acts have been described as terrorist attacks.
The Friday prayers were an opportunity to call for calm, tolerance and respect. Instead, the imam at the mosque I attended reminded the congregation that your good deed of attending Friday prayers was rendered null and void if you were twiddling your thumbs and not listening to the sermon. I wanted to know what was happening and I wanted reassurance that the Muslim leadership had a grip on the problem in Verulam.
It’s this kind of fire and brimstone stuff that is meaningless at a time when leadership is required. The leadership should have taken the form of voices of reason calling for tolerance in the context of heightened tensions, ostensibly between Shia and Sunni ideologies in the South African Muslim community.
The mosque I usually attend, Islamia, tackled the Verulam situation head on. Guest speaker Dr Shuaib Manjra condemned the toxic environment within the Muslim community that allows such cruelty to foment. I’m told many mosques opted to do the same. And yet many others didn’t feel the need to address congregations on the importance of tolerance at this time.
Despite the loss of life in Verulam, there is an opportunity to nip this particular situation in the bud. Had there been a unifying message at all mosques, it would have set the tone. Already there are headlines in newspapers that the Cape Shia Muslim community is on tenterhooks. It isn’t too late to use Ramadaan to call for calm.
Our city’s interfaith movement has done the most to strengthen relations between organised religions, especially between Cape Town's Muslim and Jewish communities. Now that energy needs to be channelled into strengthening intra-faith relations, specifically quelling the tensions between those who identify themselves as Shia Muslims and those who identify themselves as Sunni Muslims.
There is a time, too, for tough diplomacy. Our government has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel in response to its killing of dozens Palestinians last week. This is how many nations around the world responded to atrocities in apartheid South Africa.
I say this because the South African Jewish Board of Deputies has condemned our government’s diplomatic action instead of condemning the brutal killings of Palestinians. Judaism, a peace-loving religion, should not be conflated with an Israeli government that has declared war on the Palestinian people.
In the same vein, and to be consistent, our government should also withdraw diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia for bringing Yemen to its knees.There are a number of other cases when it should have done the same.
Ramadaan arrives at an opportune time, not only for Muslims, but for all of us to celebrate our common humanity and to strive to be better. The world needs to take take stock right now.
LISTEN: Gasant Abarder discusses his Sunday Slice column on CapeTalk.
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