Ramadan

It is a scorching sun in Mecca, more than 900 feet above sea level some 40 miles inland from Jeddah by the Red Sea, on the first new moon of ar-ramad, Arabic for “scorching heat or dryness,” where the word Ramadan comes from. The familiar kaffiyeh, a headgear in arid regions protects from sunburn, dust and sand. A zero precipitation accompanies the season of Ramadan. It is common sense to stay indoors and not exert too much energy to retain body humidity.

Islamic influence on global politics is considerable. With the patent oil grab that the West forced on the Middle East, the Sunni and Shi’a lands are on the news. The hijab is popular attire, a potent symbol of threat, too!

We write to a predominantly Roman Christian audience; it is helpful to keep an image of the Holy See (a corporate entity), or the Vatican (a city set-apart from Italy by decree of Mussolini), when looking at the Muslim destination of Mecca.

The Ramadan is now observed wherever the faithful is located. In the desert, it begins at first sight of hilal, the crescent moon, a season of smart inactivity for a lunar cycle as the aridity can easily dry up ones humidity. The religious term for this is fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, but the upshot on dietary rules is a breakfast (suhoor) before sunrise and dinner (iftar) after sundown with good passive and ascetic behavior in between for both the “do” (works of charity) and “don’ts” (keep one’s hands off any of the four wives).

The prayers (sayat) are thought to be more effective during this period, most particularly one of the odd numbered nights after the 20th day called “the night of power” (Laylat-al-Qadar), the holiest night of the year.

We trained the first batch of Peace Corps Volunteers into Muslim Mindanao in the early ’80s. We know that the religious observances associated with Ramadan are numerous, and fasting’s benefit on physiology are mythologized, which is why we bother with the practical origins of religious symbols.

Before it was a sacred religious observance, Ramadan was a practical human choice in an arid region, that you might learn self-control, according to the Quran. Exertion is a definite “no-no” in the desert heat.

However, ownership of habit becomes proprietary to a ruling elite, making the practice gain significance beyond its beginnings. A ruling class rises to regulate. The House of Saud has so far extended a protective umbrella for the faithful in Mecca.

In the Hajj, held at the end of the lunar calendar, Sept. 22, 2015, donning of the common seamless sheet (ihram) instantly levels the playing field. Pilgrims are equally at the mercy of Allah. The pilgrimage itself is considered to stretch back to the time of Abraham’s sacrifice of Ishma’el, the first-born. The Torah and the Biblos names Isaac, the second-born, as the sacrificial lamb.

Pilgrims’ rituals include a counter-clockwise walk around the cube-shaped Ka’aba, an encampment at Mina, a prayer vigil on Mount Arafat, and a night at Muzdalifa, after which the pilgrims symbolically stone the devil. Pilgrims then shave their heads, perform an animal sacrifice, and celebrate the three-day festival of Eid al-Adha, commemorating Abraham’s sacrifice.

In 30 days, the Eid al-Fitr breaks the Ramadan’s Fast, an obligatory feast. This is one day where cuisine rules, the faithful are not permitted to fast at all.

The indecisiveness of dates stems from the use of the lunar cycle, eleven days short of the solar count in the Gregorian one, but in 33 years, the lunar tally catches up with the solar, confusing everyone save guardians of mathematical calculations where algebra and calculus got developed, which stargazers in the Levant excel in!

Let’s focus on the Sunni-Shia difference (apologies to Muslim friends for over simplifying). “Sunni” refers to the authority of the teachings of the Prophet, and “Shia” on the authority of the Caliphate (Imams) that followed the Prophet. There is no quarrel on the Quran dictated to Muhammad, or the Hadith, the Prophet’s explications of its meaning exemplified in the Prophet’s behavior proscribed to pilgrims. There is a difference in emphasis that matters.

Like the Protestant Reformation’s authority of Biblos against Peter’s in Rome, one sees how differing focus allowed variance in religious systems. Likewise, Sunnis accept the sayings of the Prophet (Sunnah), imposing Sharia Law from the tripartite force of Kuttub al-sittah (Orthodox Hadith), the Quran, and binding consensus. Abu Bakr is the recognized first Caliph. The Shiites, on the other hand, recognizes only the fourth Caliph Ali to be the legitimate heir, focusing on the united voice of heirs now ensconced in three groups: the Shi’a Twelvers (12 Imams), the Ismailis’ Seveners (7 Imams), and the Zaidis’ Fivers (5 Imams).

Biblos against the scepter of Rome rends the seamless garment of Golgotha while Muhammad’s teachings (Sunnah) and the authority of revered men (Shi’a) keeps to versions of Islam on both sides of the Gulf of Aqaba.

Men quarrel; women aver: Salaam alaikum! I say, Amen!