Desires are to be sublimated not destroyed during Ramadhan
Desires are to be sublimated not destroyed during Ramadhan
Muhamad Ali, Jakarta
The recent incidents of raids against Jakarta nightspots and
the erecting of a wall to block access to a Catholic school in
Tangerang indicate that religious and moral tolerance are
difficult for some to uphold. Anarchism and vandalism have become
an alternative means for a few hard-liners to enforce their
religious claim that they must "enjoin the good and forbid the
evils" and to prevent others from converting their
coreligionists.
First of all, miscommunication and a mismanagement of law and
order prevail in Jakarta and some other areas. The local
government has, in these cases, failed to ensure that the public
are aware of their rights in regards nightspots and religious
facilities and activities, and thus more public communication and
coordination are desperately needed.
What is equally crucial is educating different groups of
people in this country to understand and apply the values of
religious and moral tolerance in their daily lives everywhere and
at all times.
It is not correct to simply assume that during Ramadhan, all
nightspots, including cafes, should be closed. This amounts to
eliminating human desires, or hawa nafsu, through destruction,
rather than control. The intention of fasting is not, in my view,
to stamp out desire by destructive, vandalistic acts. Fasting
Muslims can live side by side with non-fasting Muslims and non-
Muslims. Tolerance and respect are not only expected from those
who do not fast, but also from those who do.
Mutual respect should be the meaning of Ramadhan.
Human desire should not be destroyed completely. Islam never
teaches us this is so. The intended meaning of Ramadhan is to
control human desire in a way to rein in extravagances and
extremes. To destroy is also an evil that should be avoided.
Muslims should refrain from vandalism because this is also a
moral extravagance.
To live in a majority Muslim country is sometimes difficult
for non-Muslims, although this is not always so. In most places
here, like in Ambon and Manado, people respect each other and
their chosen way of life during Ramadhan.
On the other hand, fasting in a non-Muslim environment, like
in Hawaii, has greater moral challenges. Human desires are
vulgar: Most people around you do not fast, and eat, drink, kiss
in public, or dress sexily. There, however, these things can and
should be tolerated. We cannot force others to believe as we
believe to be "right" or "ethical".
Often, our concepts of what is good and right are not the
same, and often contradictory. This is because ethics is
increasingly a subtle human problem and peoples from different
religions and cultures differ -- and will always differ.
Tolerance is supposedly the ethic that all should endorse.
Tolerance of ethical values and norms is indeed very hard in any
society, including in the West. One example is those whose
approach tends to be militaristic. It is hard to ask American and
Iraqi soldiers, for example, to refrain from attacking mosques in
Iraq simply because they believe insurgents are hiding there,
without their appreciating the sacredness of religious shrines
and sites and comprehending the value of tolerance. A
militaristic way of thinking is almost always physical -- there
is little room for dialog. And it is a disaster for humanity.
It is precisely the lack, if not absence, of dialog that
compound the effort to establish and maintain a harmonious state
of coexistence among people with different backgrounds and
interests. The government, or the military, tends to be
interested only in making regulations and enforcing them through
physical force. The public who become frustrated and do not
understand the value of tolerance tend to act anarchically.
Conversions of faith and missionary activities have always
been a sensitive issue in Indonesia, where proselytizing
religions like Islam and Christianity exist. Some regulations
have been set regarding the construction of religious venues and
the activities of a mission, although these were often urged by a
single party, rather than from all parties representing religious
communities. Some skepticism exists over several of these
regulations. It is therefore imperative to rethink those
regulations concerning different religious communities at
national and local levels.
Our nation should move toward upholding the freedom of
religion, even during Ramadhan, and in no way should Ramadhan
become a pretext for anarchism according to a particular
perspective on religious ethics.
We do not know whether our God loves what we do simply because
we believe this to be true. Our own beliefs should be looked at
in relation with others' beliefs. In many cases, we can simply
tolerate others' beliefs and ensuing actions as long as they do
not harm our well-being.
Religious and moral tolerance are indeed very challenging, but
noble values. If everyone agrees to disagree and can work out
ways that allows us to respect and support each other for the
goodness of all, then Ramadhan is truly a blessing -- not only
for those who fast and observe its rituals, but also for those
who do not.
This is the essence of the tenet rahmatan lil-alamin: Islam as
a blessing for all beings.
The writer, a lecturer at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic
University (UIN), is pursuing a Ph.D. in History as a fellow at
the East-West Center, Hawaii. He can be contacted at
muhali74@hotmail.com.