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.