That is why in Muslim tradition He says: “Fasting is for Me, and I give the reward for it.” Struggling a little to fast for the sake of God is the essence of jihad, not violence and murder, as some radical Muslims believe. [1]
Throughout this month, Americans will see Shariah law, which some want to ban, being practiced by the throngs of Muslims in the United States who are waiting until after sunset to eat, drink and be (very) merry. There is no threat at all in this. By making American Muslims better neighbors, better friends, better coworkers, and better people, the fast of Ramadan is only a good thing, for both the United States and the world. [2]
The joys and sorrows of Ramadan", by HESHAM A. HASSABALLA , International Herald Tribune, 1 August 2011. My emphasis.
[1] “...the essence of jihad, not violence and murder, as some radical Muslims believe...”
A couple of comments:
Jihad understood as a “holy war” is not the belief of “some radical Muslims”. It is core Islamic belief, as contained in the Umdat al-Salik, the classic manual of Islamic juriprudence, and as explicated by manifold Islamic authorities over the last seven centuries. (*) Note, by the way, the cunning use of “violence and murder”, a kind of straw man argument (instead of "war" or "holy war"): for the meaning Jihad as holy war, is not specifically “violence and murder”, it’s just the violence and murder are clear side-effects of warring for the spread of Islam.
[2] “... Americans will see Sharia law...”:
One is invited to make a link: between peaceable Ramadan, and the by-implication peaceable Sharia. But Sharia is anything but peaceable, as a close reading of the Umdat reveals. The Umdat is the authorised manual of Sunni jurisprudence: should we not take it as a reference, rather than the word of “a Chicago-based doctor and writer” with a clear apologist agenda?
Even in the case of the relatively benign Ramadan fasting season, there are many cases where non-Muslims are forced to fast, despite not being required to by law. Malaysia and Indonesia, “moderate” Muslim countries both, have both been guilty of this.
Finally: Ramadan may be good for the soul — though surely that’s something we have to rely on the word of the fasting pious — but it’s certainly not good for the body. Study after study has shown that fasting is not good for the body. Same for the so-called “purging” remedies. They are bogus. Malcolm Gladwell(+) has also shown that there’s an epidemic of early childhood diseases amongst Muslim children born 9 months after the beginning of Ramadan, the result of lack of sufficient nutrient in the early trimester.
Those are surely some of the “sorrows” of Ramadan. And the sorrows of Sharia even greater.
(*) "Jihad means to war against non-Muslims..." Umdat al-Salik, o9.0. More here.
(+) Outliers: the story of success. Gladwell is far removed from being a core member of anti-jihad writers
