Ramadan for Christians?

Although I have mentioned before about the gospel being all-inclusive and that God loves everyone, my mind has turned to it again this week.  I think that maybe this is as a result of it being Ramadan for Muslims and (as I have also mentioned before) I have someone in my extended family who is Muslim.  I have been thinking about her and following her blog as she writes about her experiences during this time of fasting. (You can click onto her blog here.)  We know that God loves everyone but I must admit that Christians particularly in the western world, believe this with a sort of condescending, patronising attitude of ‘yes but we have the truth’ as though we have the monopoly on the truth.  I say this having been guilty of this same attitude myself.  We tend to look at Muslims with a certain western arrogance.  And so this week as I rethink some of my attitudes and realise that I really know very little about Muslims or Islam, I thought that this would be a good time to try and learn more.

 

Rashid Kahn

Earlier this week I watched a programme called A Very British Ramadan. (You can find it here.)  It lasts just over 24 minutes - sorry about the adverts in the recording.  It is presented by Rashid Kahn, a Muslim with a very northern accent!  What I found quite surprising was how everyone seemed to be actually looking forward to the month of fasting – no food or water from sunrise to sunset.  After sunset the subsequent meal (iftar) is very important.  Many meet together, almost in festive mode and share the meal together.  They break the fast with dates and water and then whatever meal they want.  Some of those of Asian ancestry keep up family tradition but there was a group of very English Muslims, who had converted as hippies in the 1960s, and they celebrated together with vegetable soup! 

 

But Ramadan is not just about fasting and eating in the hours between dusk and dawn  but about prayer and charity to others.  There was a group of Muslim bikers (!) who stopped at a café and knelt down on the ground and prayed.  They were doing a charity ride to raise money – not for a Muslim charity but for Great Ormond Street Hospital.  There were those who shared food with neighbours as a gesture of charity towards others and those of other faiths.  One 24 year old young man was looking forward to part of the time (10 days) when he would be in solitude, praying and reading.  He was looking forward to what God (Allah) would be saying to him and what changes he would need to make afterwards to fulfil God’s will.  He said,

Seclusion is everything.  All hope, all fear of the world, worldly attachments and so on are removed and the only thing you care about is the love and mercy of God and 10 days pure – you and your Lord.

 

So I learnt that Ramadan is not just about fasting from food and drink.  It’s not merely a tradition that must be obeyed.  It’s more – it’s about charity, doing good, looking beyond the physical to our spirituality, learning where we need to improve etc.  I feel Christians could learn a lot from our Muslim friends.  I know of times when Christians have used the prayer and fasting thing more as a kind of spiritual bribe for God to do our bidding rather than it being for us to draw closer to learn what God wants to say to us.  For many the time of Lent is more about doing without sweets or some luxury rather than a time to hone our spiritual appetite.  These times should not be in order to fulfil some expectation that others may have of us or that we may appear somehow more holy by doing them (that is a sanctimonious, self-centred reason if ever there was one!) but for real spiritual growth.  I know that God does not love us more because of our efforts – He loves us just because He is Unconditional Love.  That is His nature.  I am not saying either that we should be tied to such disciplines as a necessary part of our communion with God but I feel that there is maybe a place for such times of discipline.  The mystics and the old Desert Fathers certainly thought so and I know that when I have carried out a 30 day Daniel fast (eating as Daniel and his friends did in the Old Testament) I found it of great spiritual benefit and could understand why those in authority took notice of Daniel and his friends.

 

It’s not about watering down my faith and beliefs to accommodate others – not at all!  There are points where I may disagree with Muslims but I think that if I am trying to understand people of other faiths, then at least I need to accept that for some people, this is a way that they connect with God.  Or as Richard Rohr so succinctly puts it,

When another’s experience of God isn’t exactly the way I would describe it, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t had an experience of God or that their experience is completely wrong. … … Could it not be that this Hindu, this Sufi, this charismatic, this Jewish woman has, in fact, touched upon the same eternal Mystery that I am seeking? Can’t we at least give one another the benefit of the doubt? I can be somewhat patient with people who think they have the truth. The problem for me is when they think they have the whole truth.

 

I feel that in the end what matters is that we connect with God in whatever way we feel is right for us.  I’m sure God accepts the prayer of a person regardless of their background – He looks on the heart.  I’m sure that He who is Unconditional Love doesn’t just listen to Christians and ignores everyone else.  Maybe I should try to understand others more from their point of view; see them how they are and not how I think they ought to be; see them as God sees them; not be judgmental towards others; be more willing to learn from others, whoever they are.  I am still learning.