Ramzan is considered as one of the holiest months in Islam for Muslims. It is also called the month of patience and blessings. We, as Muslims, are required to fast throughout this month. Furthermore, we are also required to pay charity to the deserving people in the forms of Zakat and Fitr.
According to Islamic teachings, whatever good acts and prayers Muslims perform in addition to keeping fasts during this month, God multiplies those deeds several times and rewards for them accordingly. That is the reason why Muslims try to take lead in performing such acts which can please God the most. The point to be kept in mind in this regard is that only those good deeds please God that are performed with fair intention and selflessness.
No doubt, Eid needs be celebrated festively as per our Islamic traditions, but spending so much money for this purpose raises a number of moral questions.
By now, we have already spent most of the Ramzan-ul-Mubarak. But the question is, have we achieved the aims for which Ramzan was selected for Muslims? Have we learnt the lessons which can help us lead our lives according to the directions given by God and conveyed through His Last Prophet (PBUH)? To answer that, we need to look deep into our conscience. If we fail to do so, we will be missing the train about which we are not sure of catching it again next year. So, we need to start acting now.
Eid is considered as the end of Ramzan. Allah has asked Muslims to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr in the end of the holy month because they have kept fasts for Him and now they are allowed to eat all the delicious things created by God for His creation. That is why Eid is regarded as a gift of God for abiding by His orders in Ramzan. All the Muslims celebrate this day very happily. They wear new dresses & shoes, cook tasty foods and visit each other’s houses to have a get-together.
People start their Eid shopping even before Ramzan, and it keeps on increasing by the every passing day of the holy month. Our shopping spree reaches its peak immediately after the official announcement of moon sighting.
Every year billions of rupees are spent on the occasion of Eid in Pakistan. This huge spending does not only include money for dresses, shoes and jewelry, but also comprises of the food items as well as decorating houses. No doubt, Eid needs be celebrated festively as per our Islamic traditions, but spending so much money for this purpose raises a number of moral questions. Practically speaking, we do not seem to be more interested in observing Ramzan as we do in our Eid shopping. The way we prepare for celebrating Eid, it looks as if Eid is more important than the holy month which is full of blessings.
In fact, Eid is similar to the result day at a school for students after their exams. If students devote more time and attention to celebrating the result day than preparing for their exams, can they enjoy the big day in a better way then? In the same way, Eid is the reward from God to the Muslims after they have refrained from all the prohibited things and acts during Ramzan for the sake of God. So, how would we get the real joy and satisfaction on Eid when we have given preference to Eid shopping than making the most out of the holy month?
Presently, Pakistani society is not only facing the economic crisis manifested in the form of inflation and joblessness, but it has also been badly affected by the disasters like flood, drought, terrorism and now the military operation in Waziristan. People have been facing these problems one after the other. So taking into account the prevailing worsening situation of the lower and poor classes of people, does it seem reasonable to spend so much money on Eid shopping by leaving our countrymen helpless?
Indeed, if we could spend just half of the money of our Eid Shopping to help out the deserving people especially during Ramzan, it would not only please God, but would also enrich us with the true happiness of Eid. Let’s see who of us gets the most joy on Eid this time. May Allah enable all of us to celebrate Eid the way He expects us to! Aameen!
The sellers of souls anticipate the arrival of the holiest month of Ramzan more than anyone else. The fasting that subsists from predawn till the sunset basically teaches the cardinal principles of tolerance, patience, care for others, abstention from vices, etc. Ironically, in Pakistan, from the big media houses to the hoarders, merchants, even the cart vendors, pseudo-religious (read: part time) clerics masquerading as scholars go exactly against the very spirit of Ramzan. It would not be wrong to say that they earn more in one month of Ramzan than the rest of the year put together.
In the month of Ramzan the actors, singers, comedians, newscasters and political anchors appear out of the blue with altered attires and emulate the celebrated religious scholars.
Pakistan is passing through a critical phase of history by fighting the war of its very survival. Since the beginning of the 21st Century the world has witnessed colossal changes in terms of new technological trends and has also faced impending security issues. Pakistan too has followed the world, but less in the former and more in the latter sense.
During the era of Pervez Musharraf various revolutionary things took place that includes the advent of private and independent media channels, which was actually the brainchild of Benazir Bhutto. The media played a significant role during Musharraf’s emergency and subsequent events that proved fatal to the reign of Pervez Musharraf and he had to unwillingly sideline from the political arena.
As the time passed, media groups and their television channels kept hankering for new contents for their viewers. Initially the same TV channels used to host news, political talk shows, religious shows, and entertainment programs, all in one. But later on the religious, news, and entertainment channels were gradually separated.
During the rest of the year, TV channels are filled with a combination of programs of multiple kinds, but the holy month of Ramzan bears some special importance for the media owners and most of the airtime is allotted to the Ramzan transmission which goes live for an uninterrupted period of 4 to 6 hours in one go. The competition and high ratings have made the media outlets a mad elephant and they can go to any extent to get the maximum ratings.
In the month of Ramzan the actors, singers, comedians, newscasters and political anchors appear out of the blue with altered attires and emulate the celebrated religious scholars. The so-called torch-bearers of Islam often misguide and mislead their followers. Their knowledge in Islam is very limited and they generally misinterpret the Quranic verses and the Hadith.
The Ramzan transmission on many TV channels go beyond the mind’s eye because if one has to switch the channel for some entertainment, s/he does not have to bother about it as everything is there in the religious program. The producers of these shows spend an enormous amount of money on the set designing. They bring in anaconda, parrots, and peacocks, dummies of elephant, crocodile and even tigers, giving the impression of a zoo.
The anchors of the religious transmission, impersonating as extremely religious and pious persons, use their acting skills and talk about the miseries of poor people of Pakistan with impeccable face. Islam teaches simplicity while the anchors of the Ramzan transmission wear designer Kurtas which are worth more than the yearly income of a common citizen of Pakistan. Most of the anchors of Ramzan shows own designer clothes boutiques. Along with the publicity of other items, they take it as a blessing in disguise and use the program as publicity platforms for their own merchandise.
The Ramzan transmission gets even more ratings than the Turkish and Indian soap operas which bears testimony to the fact that it is presented in an alluring and glamorous way that it attracts more viewership than the fictional dramas.
Rather than giving huge airtime to these religious-cum-entertainment shows, the media groups should think of other options.
Back in mid of 2000s, a program started with the banner of Aalim Online broadcasting from Geo TV which is said to be the pioneer of religious programs in Pakistan. Other TV channels stepped in the shoe of Geo TV and started their own look alike religious programs. The industry is not short of mimics who at times change their features from singer, actor or a self proclaimed intellectual ― with fake degree ― to religious scholars and can entertain the audience. Their superficial knowledge of Islam often leads their viewers in the wrong direction, further spreading intolerance in the society.
The people of Pakistan may or may not approve of the futile Ramzan transmission, but the giant corporations and media groups take it as granted. They exploit the holy month to the fullest and earn huge revenues, capitalizing on the presence of special transmissions. While in the broader spectrum, the people of Pakistan get nothing. Rather than giving huge airtime to these religious-cum-entertainment shows, the media groups should think of other options. For instance, as in the UK, here also the airtime can be allotted to the programs whereby funds for IDPs and other deserving people can be raised. Or it can be used to help educate people about their rights and duties. We can reduce the rising extremism and violence, and spread religious harmony by educating the masses using TV. The current fashion of Ramzan programs should be replaced with something which is effective and has a positive impact on the society.
‘And so, the contention is, Ramadan is “the month of Jihad”. Yet, there can be no moral equivalence between a battle fought in self-defence, such as those waged by the Prophet during Ramadan, and brutal militant attacks that maim and murder innocent men, women, and children. Just because some of the most important battles of Islamic history occurred during Ramadan, it does not mean that murder could ever be justified. Ever.’ – Hesham A. Hassaballah (2013)
It began in 624 C.E., on the 17th Ramadan. The great Battle of Badr was to mark the beginning of the first conflict in Muslim history fought during the holy month of Ramadan. This historical event is regularly exploited within terrorists’ rhetoric for recruiting militants and justifying violence.
It began in 624 C.E., on the 17th Ramadan. The great Battle of Badr was to mark the beginning of the first conflict in Muslim history fought during the holy month of Ramadan. This historical event is regularly exploited within terrorists’ rhetoric for recruiting militants and justifying violence. Of the dozens of historic conflicts ensuing since that year, remembered in contemporary history are the Ramadan War of 1973 (also known as the Yom Kippur War or the fourth Arab-Israeli War); the Lebanese civil war, which began in 1975 and continued through seventeen months of Ramadan; Operation Ramadan, the first battle in the Iran-Iraq war fought in 1982, one of the largest land battles since World War II; the first Palestinian intifada, which began in 1987 and was waged over 6 Ramadans; and the 2003-2007 Iraq war.
Today, terrorists worldwide allude to these conflicts non-contextually to wage their own versions of jihad. In the Middle East and North Africa, countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, and – most notably – Iraq, have regularly suffered from these extreme narratives.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
It was on the third of Ramadan in 2004, when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a world renowned terrorist known for advocating suicide attacks and hostage executions, pledged allegiance to Osama bin Ladin, leading to the creation of Al Qaeda in Iraq. In his pledge, he reportedly stated that ‘with the appearance of Ramadan, the month of the gift of victories, Muslims are compelled to join forces and be a stick in the eye of Islam’s enemies’. It was his affiliate that called a surge of terrorist activity in Ramadan their ‘blessed foray of violence’. This year, mid-way through the holy month, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) carried out one of the most alarming prison breaks in recent history. As the world watched Iraq crumbling amidst sectarian violence, 500 militants broke out of Baghdad’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
In 2006, just two weeks before Ramadan, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri released a video tape threatening Algerians who were still reeling from a civil war. ‘The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) has joined the Al Qaeda organization… may this be a bone in the throat of American and French crusaders, and their allies, and sow fear in the hearts of French traitors and sons of apostates’. GSPC has existed in Algeria since the 1990s. Since its transformation into Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Algeria has experienced a spike in terrorist activity during Ramadan.
The month of Muharram, like Ramadan, too has borne the brunt of such activity and rhetoric, with Shias being targeted in Lebanon, Iran and Iraq. In 2012, in a streak of bombings on the eve of Muharram, 17 people were killed across Iraq. But seldom has a country witnessed the threat of Muharram violence that Pakistan has.
Last year, an arrested TTP militant in Karachi, Akhtar Mehsud confessed during interrogation that four suicide bombers had been trained and selected to carry out attacks during Muharram processions in the city. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies worked intensively to ward off security threats during the month of commemoration, successfully foiling several attempts as was revealed by suspects arrested from various cities in Punjab between 2010 and 2013.
The prevailing threat stems from violently sectarian rhetoric embossed with Islamic history. On December 28 2009, Pakistan’s largest procession of Shias was targeted in Karachi, killing 43 and causing the city to erupt in clashes amongst rioters. TTP claimed responsibility, notifying the use of a suicide bomber. The attack came a day after suicide attacks killed 15 near Pir Alam Shah Bukhari’s tomb in Muzaffarabad.
December 28 2009, bombing in a procession of Shias at Karachi, killing 43
Last November, a remote-controlled bombing in Dera Ismail Khan during Muharram took eight lives. TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan was quick to justify that the group ‘carried out the attack against the Shia community’. Other than TTP, responsible for inciting violence during Muharram are Lahskar-e-Jhangvi and its mother-ship Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan.
‘The holy month of jihad’, has suffered its share of violence in Pakistan as well, hazed by sectarian tones. In 2010, multiple blasts targeted a Shia procession in Lahore killing 30. They were followed shortly by a suicide attack on Shias in Quetta which killed more than 50 people. This year, the deadliest attack targeting Shias during Ramadan took place in Parachinar, taking over 56 lives. Media channels, perhaps too distressingly involved in comic Ramadan transmissions, failed to provide adequate coverage to such an atrocity.
Apart from sectarian attacks during Ramadan, Pakistan has witnessed a surge of other TTP and LEJ-led attacks including those on police recruits in Mingora that killed 16 (2009); the attack on a mosque in Khyber agency which claimed 50 lives (2011); a rage of attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA in the beginning of Ramadan in 2012; a mosque attack in Kohat on the first day of Ramadan and the Sukkur attacks on ISI headquarters (2013). Every TTP and LeJ-led rhetoric during Ramadan in Pakistan has been dressed in the kafan of jihad.
Adding to these holy months of martyrdom is the factor of Islamic charities, several of which collect funds for jihad, attracting zakat during Ramadan, such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Last year, the government prohibited collection of zakat and donations by banned groups and/or outfits, but given that several of these are unregistered, tracing and controlling financing through illicit charitable donations remains a serious problem in Pakistan.
Undertaking an offensive during a religious period has dual characteristics: motivation for the terrorist group and vulnerability of the target.
If external jihad was not enough, the Pakistani Taliban seems to have become caretakers of the practice of internal jihad as well. TTP-South Waziristan’s Mullah Nazir recently banned men and women from wearing tight or see-through clothing in Ramadan – a move that bears no religious or historic significance, and one TTP fails to explain the ‘Islamic’ nature of. The Ramadan ‘code of conduct’ issued by TTP has further warned one month of imprisonment for not fasting in South Waziristan.
Attacks during Rabbi-al-Awwal, the third month of the calendar, have hit several cities in the country as well. While citizens – Sunni, Shia, Ahmedis and Christians alike – celebrate the birth of the Prophet, aggressive disapproval is made known by certain Deobandi, Wahabi and Salafi groups in Pakistan who strongly oppose these celebrations and see fit to attack rejoicing participants. It takes but a mention of Nishtar Park to remind Karachiites of the 56 citizens killed during an attack carried out in 2006 by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi operatives on Barelvi Sunnis responsible for organizing the ceremony.
What triggers escalation of violence during sacred times is a subject of much contention. Ron E. Hessner wrote that ‘sacred dates in the religious calendar provide meaning to the faithful by evoking history, social structure or religious precepts and, ultimately, by hinting at the underlying order of the cosmos’. Instigators of violence during sacred months seem to benefit from the so-called ‘auspicious’ timing of attacks, almost in an attempt to justify them, vindicating initiators from guilt and shame.
The best way to contain this vicious cycle of motivation and vulnerability is through changing perceptions towards extremist rhetoric by providing alternate interpretations of religious history.
Undertaking an offensive during a religious period has dual characteristics: motivation for the terrorist group and vulnerability of the target. Religious periods act as force multipliers, motivating militants to act with greater ferocity and fervour on holy days that resonate with their cause (such as the motivation to instigate violence against Shias during Muharram). Hessner’s findings on the Iraq conflict between 2003 and 2009, for example, illustrate that in Ramadan the average number of terrorist attacks increased by 7.2%, with sectarian attacks alone rising by 8.3%. Zarqawi’s quote below represents the rhetoric employed for this motivation.
‘Sunnis, wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shiite snakes, who are afflicting you with all agonies since the invasion of Iraq until our day. Forget about those advocating the end of sectarianism and calling for national unity.’ – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (2006), former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq (2006)
Vulnerability of the group being attacked is the second characteristic influencing the rise of conflict during a religious period. Attacking Shia processions during Muharram or Friday mosque-goers during Ramadan are known as ‘surprise attacks’, meant to weaken the ‘enemy’ further by endangering its mobilisation on days most significant to the practitioners. Vulnerability encourages motivation. Motivation becomes a show of hadd and jurrat, thus furthering vulnerability. By definition, ‘hadd’ can mean either ‘limit’ or ‘a punishment which is fixed and enjoyed as the right of Allah’. For the purposes of extremism, it implies more conclusively the extremes one is willing to reach in order to punish apostates or non-believers. ‘Jurrat’ (bravery or courage) – with regards the tactical utilisation of terrorism – refers to the theatrical display of violence highlighting strength and power in order to suppress the adversary and impress the following.
The best way to contain this vicious cycle of motivation and vulnerability is through changing perceptions towards extremist rhetoric by providing alternate interpretations of religious history. It must also be accounted that violence has blooded histories of all religions and can never be utilised as a means of successfully spreading or eradicating belief systems. Salafi preacher Sayyid Qutb, Zawahiri’s mentor, spent his ink and sweat advocating for an offensive jihad, whereas the Prophet devoted his life insisting on its defensive and internal nature. Understanding the difference is a good place to start.
Zoha Waseem is from Karachi and has a post-graduate from King’s College London in Terrorism, Security and Society.
