Looking beyond the ritual festivity of Eid
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Eid-ul-Fitr, the greatest religious festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated in the country tomorrow (Wednesday) or a day after, depending on the sighting of the moon. It comes after a month-long period of fasting which is meant to be spiritual training for all Muslims. They are supposed to become better human beings in every way-- restrained in their immoral or unkind actions, enlightened in the path of truth and justice and sensitive about the pains and wants of unfortunate human beings-- at the end of their training during the holy month of Ramadan. Therefore, on Eid day, the ones who have truly followed the rigours of Ramadan are expected to demonstrate behaviour very close to the core values of their faith.
As a complete code of life, Islam upholds certain basic purposes, a cardinal one being the equality and fraternity of all human beings. It seeks a community in which its members are at peace based on socio-economic and distributive justice. In this context, Islam enjoins on its true followers not to celebrate Eid selfishly for one's own sensual pleasure. Unfortunately, Ramadan, as also other religious activities, are not always observed in Bangladesh, as also in many other Islamic countries, in its intended spirit. Likewise, the Eid-ul-Fitr is observed in many cases, through mainly decorative or ritualistic behaviour.
Resourceful Muslims the world over do make a pretension of serving their faith by letting some crumbs fall from their tables for the poor on the Eid day and not much beyond. If they really wish to prove their religiousness, then they ought to think hard what their religion actually ordains and act accordingly. This would involve a metamorphosis of their character to really serve the have-nots in society, to enact enabling legislation to decisively set in motion policies for upliftment of conditions of the poor and to pool together resources and charities for constructively and extensively meeting the needs of poverty alleviation and not just satisfying in a limited way the immediate consumption instincts of some of the poor.
The people in Bangladesh are preponderantly Muslims by identity. But a large number of Bangladeshis are poor and backward. The roots of their degraded existence can be traced to the behaviour of its elite classes whose routine or ritual observance of Islam seeks to be convincing but such observance is nowhere near the sacrifices that Islam demands from its real followers. But the practising of Islam must not be confined to rituals, if the real benefits or strengths of the Islamic faith are to be derived. Further, Islam does not adore any fatalistic and resigned way of life. Rather, it encourages a strong pro-active role in promoting the well-being of the people in their both earthly and after-world life. This year, Eid will be celebrated in a different political and economic setting. With the heads of two major political parties remaining out of prison and a general election scheduled for December 18 next, the country is set to return to democracy soon, notwithstanding the element of uncertainty. However, this year's Eid is likely to be less appealing to the poor and low income people who have been hit hard by soaring prices of most essentials. Their less than usual presence has also rendered this year's Eid market less attractive to traders. However, the holy Eid-ul-Fitr should be considered a happy occasion for the greatest number of Bangladeshis and for Bangladesh and its people to look forward to a better and better future in the times to come.
As a complete code of life, Islam upholds certain basic purposes, a cardinal one being the equality and fraternity of all human beings. It seeks a community in which its members are at peace based on socio-economic and distributive justice. In this context, Islam enjoins on its true followers not to celebrate Eid selfishly for one's own sensual pleasure. Unfortunately, Ramadan, as also other religious activities, are not always observed in Bangladesh, as also in many other Islamic countries, in its intended spirit. Likewise, the Eid-ul-Fitr is observed in many cases, through mainly decorative or ritualistic behaviour.
Resourceful Muslims the world over do make a pretension of serving their faith by letting some crumbs fall from their tables for the poor on the Eid day and not much beyond. If they really wish to prove their religiousness, then they ought to think hard what their religion actually ordains and act accordingly. This would involve a metamorphosis of their character to really serve the have-nots in society, to enact enabling legislation to decisively set in motion policies for upliftment of conditions of the poor and to pool together resources and charities for constructively and extensively meeting the needs of poverty alleviation and not just satisfying in a limited way the immediate consumption instincts of some of the poor.
The people in Bangladesh are preponderantly Muslims by identity. But a large number of Bangladeshis are poor and backward. The roots of their degraded existence can be traced to the behaviour of its elite classes whose routine or ritual observance of Islam seeks to be convincing but such observance is nowhere near the sacrifices that Islam demands from its real followers. But the practising of Islam must not be confined to rituals, if the real benefits or strengths of the Islamic faith are to be derived. Further, Islam does not adore any fatalistic and resigned way of life. Rather, it encourages a strong pro-active role in promoting the well-being of the people in their both earthly and after-world life. This year, Eid will be celebrated in a different political and economic setting. With the heads of two major political parties remaining out of prison and a general election scheduled for December 18 next, the country is set to return to democracy soon, notwithstanding the element of uncertainty. However, this year's Eid is likely to be less appealing to the poor and low income people who have been hit hard by soaring prices of most essentials. Their less than usual presence has also rendered this year's Eid market less attractive to traders. However, the holy Eid-ul-Fitr should be considered a happy occasion for the greatest number of Bangladeshis and for Bangladesh and its people to look forward to a better and better future in the times to come.