Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

Isaiah 58:5-10

Growing up, Ramadan was a month of short school days, lunch in rooms with covered windows and a complete absence of mail. The Kuwaiti postal workers, it seemed, sought Allah’s favour by abstaining from food and work. As the Muslim calendar is lunar based, the start of Ramadan would move up on the solar calendar by about two weeks each year. Ramadan fell during the rainy season while I was in Kuwait, so the days were a little shorter and the water fast was a little more manageable in the absence of the summer heat. Many folks turned semi-noctural to compensate, feasting at night and sleeping as much as possible during the day.

All this to fulfill sawm, the fourth pillar of Islam. Sawm involves abstaining from food, drink and sexual intercourse. It is not confined to Ramadan, but Ramadan is when all devout Muslims will fast. The fast goes from the morning until the evening prayers (roughly correlating to sun up, sun down).

Fasting, in Islam as in Christianity and Judaism, is a means of focusing one’s attentions upon God, and provides a time to redirect those appetites towards prayer. But there is another side to the observance of the fast, one that reflects the meditation from Isaiah 58 well.

Ramadan is also a time for performing good deeds and zakat, another pillar of Islam. The fasting can have a dual purpose; of coming closer to God, and of seeking identification with the poor. Charitable giving to those in your neighborhood, town, or city is strongly encouraged.

Christianity (and Judaism before it) has a strong historical and spiritual tradition of fasting and of giving to the poor. Brian McLaren has recently written a series of blog posts [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] on a challenge that he and some friends have taken up, and which I will be following on. The challenge is this:

1. We, as Christians, humbly seek to join Muslims in this observance of Ramadan as a God-honoring expression of peace, fellowship, and neighborliness. Each of us will have at least one Muslim friend who will serve as our partner in the fast. These friends welcome us in the same spirit of peace, fellowship, and neighborliness.

2. We will seek to avoid being disrespectful or unfaithful to our own faith tradition in our desire to be respectful to the faith tradition of our friends. For example, since the Bible teaches us the importance of fasting and being generous to the poor, we can participate as Christians in fidelity to the Bible as our Muslim friends do so in fidelity to the Quran.

3. Among the core values of Ramadan are self control, expressing kindness, and resolving conflicts. For this reason, if we are criticized or misunderstood by Christians, Muslims, or others for this endeavor, we will avoid defending ourselves or engaging in arguments. Instead, we will seek to explain ourselves humbly, simply, and briefly when necessary, connecting with empathy to the needs and feelings of others as we express our own.

4. Our main purpose for participating will be our own spiritual growth, health, learning, and maturity, but we also hope that our experience will inspire others to pray and work for peace and the common good, together with people of other faith traditions.
May God bless all people, and teach us to love God and love one another, and so fulfill our calling as human beings.

I will also be using the month of Ramadan as a time to continue this series of articles articulating how we may reach out (even break ranks, if necessary) to embrace our Muslim neighbors, domestically or abroad. I hope you will join me.

Ramadan Mubarak ربنا آتنا في الدنيا سنة وفي الآخرة حسنة في رمضان

About Jordan Peacock

Jordan Peacock lives in Minnesota, south of the Twin Cities. He is finding it far easy to be outspoken than to integrate his life with his stated beliefs, and is slowly working to rectify that imbalance. Your grace is appreciated during this process.