RAMADAN 2013 MUBARAK

Welcome to Ramadan, this column is about the politics, traditions and the spirit of Ramadan.

Today is the first day of Ramadan, the 9th month in the Muslim Hijri (Migration) Calendar, which began with the Muslim exodus from Mecca to the city of Madinah.

Ramadan is one of the 12 months of lunar calendar with 354.37 days in a year, as opposed to the Solar Calendar with 364+days.  However, every 33 years, the the Solar and Lunar Calendar coincide on the same day. 

Like the Jewish and Hindu Festivals, Muslim festivals are based on lunar calendar, and usually begin 11 days earlier each successive year, as the lunar year has 354.37 days, roughly 11 days less than the Solar Calendar. It will take six more years for Ramadan to occur in Spring time, right now the fasting will be long for more than 14 hours a day without any intake in the body. 

Ramadan should not be understood by Muslims alone, it is an observance that all can relate with. I  have put together different thoughts about Ramadan from an universal perspective, so our Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, Bahai, Buddhist, Native Americans, Jain, Sikh and other  members of the family of faiths can relate with. Even those friends who do not believe in God, can at least get an idea about Ramadan, so, together we can create societies where we know each other,  and with that fewer conflicts and greater goodwill to sustain for all of us.

What does God want from us?

Like a mother who wants her children to live well, like a teacher who wants his students to do well, and like a chef who wants his patrons to enjoy his food�. God wants every one of his creation to live in harmony and do well.  

No one is deprived of God�s love; he has reached every human through a peace maker, messenger, prophet, reformer or simply a wise man or a good friend that brings sense to living. The creator offers a variety of guidance to the mankind, no matter where you live, the guidance is there, the guidance that leads to live in peace, and without fear of the other.

Religion is a beautiful instrument that God guides us through, and there are many of them, at least 250 traditions including a dozen major ones. Each tradition does well for the believer in bringing peace to oneself.

Today, the one tradition I am talking about is Islam, and one of its beautiful aspects that helps build cohesive societies is the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan Cohesion
May this Ramadan bring blessings to humanity, Amen! It is time for us to begin addressing the unity within the Muslim community and with the communities of the world for building cohesive societies, where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. Let's start cleaning our hearts from prejudice and judgment against our own and everyone else. If the self appointed guardians of Islam cannot unite us to do good for humanity, let them not divide us either. Let there be no politics in religion. Let us fulfill a major task God assigns to humanity, the best among you is the one who knows each other and cares for the other. 

For the last 4 years, I have been chronicling Ramadan Daily - iftar a Masjid, visiting every denomination of Muslims without prejudice.

More about it at http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/07/ramadan-cohesion-2011.html

Ramadan Mubarak

Welcome to Ramadan, it begins today, July 9th, 2013. It is the month of fasting, a month of learning about others, connecting with others, developing empathy with fellow beings and above all reaching new heights in piety and spirituality,  Taqwa as it is called. It is to become closer to God and emulate his qualities of unselfishness, forgiveness and love. It is a month of practicing service to fellow beings and developing self discipline to learn to live they way we want, and being conscious of every moment of the day for 30 days.  

The Politics of Ramadan at Washington Post

Politics plays a crucial role in our Temples, Synagogues or Churches, Mosques are no different. A few scientifically-inclined-Muslims have adopted NASA�s calculations believed to be precise. However, four different traditions are operating concurrently; i) Strictly Calendar, ii) NASA and iii) Sighting with bare eyes and iv) sighting by others in the community.

Muslims around the world will begin fasting from Tuesday, July 9th, and for a whole month thereafter, however, for some of them it will begin (only) if the moon is sighted. The story is same with the Jewish and other traditions that follow lunar calendar. Rosh Hashanah like Ramadan comes 11 or 12 days earlier each successive year. Continued at - http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/08/the_essence_of_ramadan_is_to_become_humble.html

The Spirit of Ramadan at Huffington Post

The spiritual masters have captured the human gravity towards rituals and have molded it with the art and science of self-discipline in their respective religions. The noble purpose of each one of them was to bring a balance in our lives and a balance with our environment.

Every faith is composed of a set of unique rituals to bring discipline and peace to human life. Fasting is one of the five key rituals that Muslims around the world observe. Rituals signify the milestones of our daily life. Every significant moment of the day is a ritual. It is an unwritten way of measuring our progression, a memory pattern to bring discipline to our actions. Continued http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/spirit-of-ramadan_b_939961.html

The Traditions of Ramadan at Ramadan Exclusive

its celebration time when Muslims around the world anxiously wait for the first moon of the ninth Lunar month to appear on the sky. The families gather in their backyards, or get on the nearest hillock or climb on the top of their homes and wait for the pencil thin moon to appear on the horizon, and when it does, jubilation begins. Continued at: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/09/traditions-of-ramadan.html

Welcome to Ramadan at Ramadan Exclusive

Insha�Allah, the first day of Ramadan will begin on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 and Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, August 19, 2012 per the announcement from ISNA. Continued at: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2012/06/welcome-to-ramadan-2012.html

Quraan says, had God willed, he would have made every one of us alike - then he says, he chose to make us into different tribes and nations from the same couple (or the same source). Then he goes on to challenge us to know each other - he knows that our conflicts stem from not knowing each other, and living with misinformation about others,  when we know each other,  conflicts fade and solutions will emerge.

Every religion means peace and Justice and that is acceptable to God. He says, you need not worry who you are, as long as you take care of your neighbor, I will recompense you. Each one of us is responsible for our Karma.

He concludes ( Quraan 49:13) that the best among us is the one who knows each other, learns about each other and respects each other. If we take the time, to learn, every religion is out there to bring goodness to humanity.

Be good to yourselves and every one around you. Happy Ramadan.

Mike Ghouse is committed to nurturing the pluralistic values of Islam and welcomes everyone to explore Www.worldMuslimCongress.org and several related sites listed at www.MikeGhouse.net and www.TheGhousediary.com 

Ramadan day7 Reflections for Juma Khutba

Ramadan day 7- Reflections for Juma Khutba

Thursday, July 26, 2012 | Ramadan 7, 1433
2665 Villa Creek, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234
 

• Website:  www.WorldMuslimCongress.org
• URL:   http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2012/07/ramadan-day7-reflections-on.html
• Blog:  http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/
• Pictures:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157630770290396/show/
• Time:  8:36 PM CST

Today is the 7^th Iftaar, and after the Salat (prayers) and dinner, I decided to catch up with reflecting on Ramadan.

I received the following email from my African American Muslim friend who reads and shares my writings in his circle of friends, he wrote,  �Mike; I keep sending you such information because someday likely you will meet our Brother and I want to start to introduce you now and before any actually meeting because I am very aware of the opinion of many immigrant Muslim of us and generally it is not good and some have told me to my fact "You All are not Real Muslims" ......not realizing that it was us that paved the way for them to have some peace here.�
 
Although I have addressed the above in bits and pieces, I wanted to focus on it and hope our Imams can address it in their Juma Khutbas (Sermon).

Stereotyping is a common pit that most of the humanity keeps falling into over and over again. It is judging the whole community, ethnicity or a nationality from the experience with one. As Muslims we get frustrated when we hear dumb statements like Muslims are terrorists, Arabs are rude, xxxx are not trust worthy�. and stuff like that, and yet shamelessly we indulge in it ourselves.

A few Arabs think that the Pakistanis are not Muslim enough, and the Pakistanis don�t see Indian Muslims to be Muslim enough, and Indian Muslims don�t think the Bangladeshis are Muslim enough and I guess they don�t think the Rohingi Muslims are not Muslim enough and there is no end to this baseless thinking and is contrary to the teachings of Islam in this case.

Most Muslims enthusiastically quote Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh)  last sermon that no one is superior to the other� the question is, do we really mean it? Does it reflect in our words and actions?

Much of the wisdom and guidance in Quraan boils down to the things we need to do to keep a balance in the society, where no one has to be afraid of the other. Islam in one word: Justness.

Don�t we realize that Islam was a solution to generate peaceful (Islam) societies by knocking the arrogance out of individuals and communities? Arrogance is the root cause of most conflicts and troubles. God's wisdom is crystal clear;  whom he likes the most and the least, the forgivers and arrogant people respectively.  Just as you want your home to be in order, Allah wants his creation to be in order, and that order is harmony among people and things.

The note from my African American friend is a common thing with most of the humanity, but as Muslims we have specific instructions and guidance to avoid judging others. The word Taqwa has become a technical term and seems to have lost its essence.

You can argue all you want to argue about African Americans, Arabs, Pakistanis, Indian, Bangladeshis, Rohingis, Somalis or any one� but the fact is you will be buried with the same respect as others whether you are a Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya or from any religion, and your body will decompose at the same speed as others. You are not superior to the other when you are in that grave, your grave will get exact same sunshine, rain or winds as others.

Look at the practices in Islam - the Salat and fasting for instance, what do they do to you, and what is the cumulative effect of it? Allama Iqbal said it well, �Tujhe kya milega namaaz may� what do you get out of fasting and prayer, if it does not make you a humble person. Humility broadly means treating, feeling and acting equal with your employee, spouse, kids or others; Muslim or not. How do we measure up?

Pathetic material came up in the Economist yesterday, how Shia and Sunni are denigrating each other and calling each other infidels?  Do they throw the Prophets� last sermon out of window? Do they follow the Sunnah? I hope our Imams are urging their congregants not to denigrate others, absolutely not, for their own good in the long haul - so they can live in a safer society.

Religion, ethnicity, nationality and race should never be slapped with false labels for the acts of a few.  Statistically, if you meet �one� Muslim, Hindu, Christian or a Jew and he or she turns out to be a bad person; you can claim that 100% of Muslims, Hindus, Christians or Jews are bad. 

And if you meet two of each and only one of them turns out to be a bad dude, your statistic is halved; only 50% of Muslims, Hindus or others are bad.

But when you meet 1000 of them in each group, most likely the following statistics will emerge.

95% of people in every religious group get their religion right
02% of people in every religious group are enforcers, tyrants
02% of people in every religious group are easy goers
01% of people in every religious group are intolerant ones

The statisticians can tell what a reliable sample is, which will yield similar results no matter where and when you test. This has been my observation of several groups that I have been a part of for nearly 20 years, and a part of my e-lists that I mail to Atheists, Baha'i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, Sikhs, Wicca, Zoroastrians and others.

I hope the Imams can pull verses from Quran and emphasize the ills of prejudice and stereotyping, instead of frightening with hell fire, which means nothing to many. God loves us all and wants us to live in peace and that is the summary of God�s will. 

Not sure how many Muslims and others can shed their arrogance and prejudice towards others, I  want to assure every Muslim, yes, every Muslim that he or she can count on receiving full dignity and respect from God for them and their belief and their tradition, whether they are a denomination of a Islam or of any religion. We are all God's creation (Children is not a descriptor in Islam).

As a fellow human, you can count on me to treat you with full respect for who you are,  and as a symbolic gesture, I will visit your sacred place without hesitation, simply to honor your uniqueness that God has endowed you.  I will not agree with you, and you may not agree with me, but we can respect each other; both of us are God's will.

Thank God for his guidance, I have made the time to visit every denomination among Muslims and have been with Aztecs to Zoroastrians and every one in between. I am confident of my faith Islam,  that I follow and give respect to every one who is confident about his or her faith. When you do not have a strong faith, you shy away from knowing others and run from others,  God wants us to know each other (49:13),  so together we can create cohesive societies that are good for you and I and every one around us.

This is what God wants, to get along and keep the social, economic, spiritual and emotional world in balance and harmony with oneself and with others, and I believe that is God's will.

About My Israel-Palestine trip in Ramadan.

The pictures in the link above are of Ifaar and Suhoor at Masjid-al-Aqsa and Bait-al-Muqaddas and a street in Jerusalem before Iftaar. If you wish to see 250 pictures of entire Israeli and Palestinian lands, let me know, I will send you the link. I have traveled from Jerusalem to Golan Heights in the north and from Haifa down to Tel Aviv and in between been to Jericho, Nablus, Nazareth and other cities.

The bus tour guide was giving mis-information about Islam, she said Islam has six pillars, the first one is Jihad and she explained it means killing the infidels. It was not easy, but I am not going to let falsities go unquestioned, finally the tour operators agreed to change to five and also the right meaning of the word Jihad. Jihad is like nuclear power, in the right hands it is beneficent to the whole humanity and in the wrong ones, it is hell.  Jihad in itself is a word, neither bad nor good, it is the struggle to fight our own conscience and win over the humanist ills like anger, hate, malice, jealousy etc. It is the user of Nuclear power that is good or bad, and not the word. Less than 1/10th of 1% abuse nuclear power, Jihad, Religion, presidency, chairmanships of corporations etc. They are dangerous, and we need to round them up and not what they are affiliated with; family, religion, nation, pastor or their holy book. 

 I must give credit to the Israelis on that thing. I am not sure, if I would have been thrown out of the bus in Islamic nations if I had stood up and wanted to correct mis-information. However, I have also seen the disgraceful walls of apartheid which weakens and gurantees insecurity to the Israeli society for years to come. As Mother Teresa says, they need to dialogue.   Insha Allah, I will be in Jerusalem again in December and hope to work for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Two Dutch Imams and I was on the bus, we did our Iftaar with the dates and we gave the Adhan as well in the bus. If you have an interest in seeing my individual share of work, please visit http://www.israelPalestinedialogue.com

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Please mark your calendar for the Unity Day USA, a positive event that brings all Americans Together to rededicate our pledge for a peaceful, prosperous and secure America. We are a part of America and we need to feel and live it.  If you liked some of the article, you will like the description of Unity Day USA at www.UnityDayUSA.com

A few other Articles to read if you have the time:
What does God really want?

 http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2012/07/happy-ramadan-what-does-god-really-want.html

Are Muslims a part of the American society?
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/10/are-muslims-part-of-american-story.html

A call from God to know each other 
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/01/mission-of-world-muslim-congress.html

Please visit http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/ for a record since 2010.

MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.comis updated daily. 

  

Welcome to Ramadan 2012

AA,

Insha�Allah, the first day of Ramadan will begin on Friday, July 20, 2012 and Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, August 19, 2012 per the announcement from ISNA.

On the left Panel of this blog - http://Ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com, you can read the politics, spirituality and the traditions of Ramadan, that I have been blessed to get published in Washington Post and Huffington post News papers.

An article called "Ramadan daily" will be added to the panel on the left, listing a typical day from Sahri/ Suhoor to Iftaar and Taraweeh. Please remember we are not a monolithic lot, each denomination has a slightly different practice and we have to honor them, rather than show disrespect.

In Dallas, this will be our third year to celebrate unity with the given diversity. The Muslims who are not stuck up, and are above the denominations are asked to do the Iftaar in a Masjid a day or welcome to join me and ride with me to different Masajid�s. A full Iftaar schedule will also be published. We have about 30 in the area, and Insha Allah, we will do most of them. The Masajid�s include Ahmadiyya, Bohra, Ismaili, Shia, Sufi, Sunni, WD Muhammad and other traditions. 

We kiss ass with every religious traditions and invite Jews, Christians and others to do the Iftaar, but when it comes to fellow Muslims, we tend to be petty and small. We need to grow up and show the bigness of our heart to all; Muslims and non Muslims alike. 

Each one can prepare his or her own schedule, but I will prepare one for the full month and invite everyone to join me.  Change will come when we mean it and take the action - The change is for Muslims to get along and show solidarity with each other for doing good things, despite the differences. If we cannot do it, here, then don�t expect this to happen elsewhere in the world.

Jazak Allah Khair

Mike Ghouse

I am committed to do my individual share of building cohesive Muslim societies. What is good for Muslims has got to be good for others and vice-versa to sustain it. The role of a Muslim is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill, you will find that in almost every act of the prophet. Check out www.TheGhousediary.com for my daily articles or other blogs and sites listed there.  Thank you.