SE Asian Muslims mark Ramadhan with religious tolerance
SE Asian Muslims mark Ramadhan with religious tolerance
Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
The strident rhetoric at a recent Islamic summit in Kuala Lumpur will give way to multiracial tolerance and relative calm when Southeast Asia's more than 200 million Muslims mark the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan.
Muslims shun food, drink, tobacco, sex and impure thoughts during Ramadhan, which is expected to start around Oct. 27 depending on the sighting of the moon by authorities in each country.
The dawn-to-dusk fasting month is traditionally a time of heightened religious fervor, where sentiments of Islamic brotherhood and solidarity are emphasized in sermons and nightly gatherings in mosques across the region.
But in Southeast Asia, where Islam is seen as more moderate than in many Middle Eastern countries, a spirit of religious tolerance prevails and hopes are high for a lull in conflict areas as life slows down during Ramadhan.
This attitude is exemplified in multi-racial Malaysia, where many non-Muslims abstain from eating and drinking in front of those fasting, and where fast-breaking is often an occasion shared by people of different.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, recognizing the importance of such outreach efforts to curb growing fears of Islamic extremism, this week urged young Malaysians to continue visiting each other's open houses.
Despite sparking uproar recently with a remark that "Jews rule this world," Mahathir, who retires next week after 22 years in office, told his countrymen to maintain the spirit of tolerance and unity that has helped Malaysia flourish.
Neighboring Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, is bracing for the yearly curbs on night-time entertainment and mass treks homeward that have become an annual headache for transport authorities.
The Islamic Council of Ulemas (Muslim scholars) has called on the government to close nightspots and ban television shows featuring pornography and violence, saying Ramadhan should become a "momentum to develop good conduct."
Local soap operas featuring violence and romantic intrigue are popular in Indonesia, where more than 80 percent of its 212 million people follow Islam.
But Islam is not the state religion and Indonesians are relaxed in their observance. Many people, especially in the main island of Java, mix the religion with elements of Hindu and Buddhistic and other pre-Islamic traditions such as animism.
Muslim Javanese still provide offerings for spirits of their loved ones who have died and pray at graves of people considered saints, practices deemed heretical by purist Islamists. In West Sumatra, a devoutly Islamic society still remains matrilineal.
In mainly Roman Catholic Philippines, the Idul Fitri marking the end of Ramadhan will bring cheer to some four to five million Muslims, or 5 percent of the population, after it was declared a national holiday last year.
Officials and community leaders said there is little racial tension in the run up to Ramadhan and minority Muslims hope the guns will remain silent in the country's troubled south.
Last February, the Philippine military went on a major bloody offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest separatist force, during a Muslim festival marking the haj pilgrimage.
"We hope and pray there will no fighting during this coming holy month. This is a period for reflection," Abhoud Syed Lingga, chairman of the Bangsamoro People's Consultative Assembly, the largest Muslim civil society group, told AFP.
Southeast Asia's Islamic moderation has been questioned after last October's nightclub bombings in Indonesia's Bali island where extremists killed 202 people.
Though the bloodiest, Bali was one of many recent attacks apparently committed or planned by Southeast Asian militants in the name of the faith, including bombings of embassies, offices, malls and churches in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, experts noted.
"The biggest challenge comes within the Malay community where religious zealots try to impose their views on the masses. We cannot let them win the battle," said Abdul Razak Baginda, director of the Malaysian Institute of Strategic Research.
Merle Ricklefs, a professor of Asian studies at Melbourne University, wrote in an article this year that the "battle for the soul of Islam" in Indonesia cannot be underestimated.
"But the violent extremists are only part of the story. They are vastly outnumbered, out-educated, out-publicized and out- influenced by the tolerant, forward-thinking moderates of Indonesian Islam."