Southeast Asia's 200 million Muslims mark Ramadhan with religious

Southeast Asia's 200 million 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 multi-racial 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."