Political Iftars Have Ruptured The Sanctity Of Their Observances
Mohamed R. M. Farook
Party politics and power politics are the twin scourges the Sri Lankan Muslims are faced with in what the Muslim society sees as the hegemonic display of strengths of some group (s) over the others contrary to the teachings of Islam. The Ramadhan fasting (any fasting for that matter) has two sanctioned events, one at the start of the fast each day (taking of the pre-dawn meal) and the other is the time of breaking the fast known as Iftarwhich is done by taking date fruits plus water first followed by khanji (porridge), short eats and then immediately performing the prescribed prayer. Taking of pre-dawn meal is done by all Muslims in one’s own homes, other than in exceptional cases where such persons may have other arrangements. Getting up and taking the pre-dawn meal is recommended (has Blessings). On the other hand, Iftar – breaking of the fast – Muslim males may do it in their own homes or in mosques where dates, water, porridge (khanji) and short eats are provided to all those who come to the mosques to break the fast. Mosques spend (from the contributions from their congregational members and other Muslim well-wishers) lavishly on the preparation of Iftar porridge, dates and short eats. The Iftar porridge is prepared in large quantities (in some mosques the Iftar porridge costs from around Rs.40,000/= to Rs.50,000/= or a little more per day) and the porridge is also available to Muslim households, Muslim businesses and Muslim groups in state or private organizations (universities, factories etc. where preparation of the porridge is not possible) around the area of these Mosques. Few persons and households of other faiths sometimes do come and collect the Iftar porridge and the Mosques offer them with generosity and without any reluctance – All Praise Be to God [Allah].
Iftar has a special significance for Muslims who are fasting – a short time period before the time for breaking the fast, they must get involved in supplications to God (Allah) for any shortcomings in their fasting, supplicate for the good in this world and in the Hereafter, be meditative and concentrative of Islamic teachings, read Qur’anic verses and finally break the fast at the correct time without delay when the call for prayers is announced. This time period is specifically to be religious / devotional and be devoid of distractions. Thus any function in the name of Iftar with even the slightest distraction is against the spirit of fasting.
Many world leaders have hosted Iftar functions in the past in their respective countries – originated first in the White House (USA) – some of which are yet continuing, some were discontinued, some restarted again and some world leaders do not host such functions at all, some are totally against it and some boycott it even if invited – that is the scenario of these Iftar functions worldwide. Sri Lanka too followed suit and we have had state sponsored Iftar functions hosted by the President and the Prime Minister separately on different days at the Presidents House and Temple Trees respectively. People are invited: Diplomats of the Muslim countries, parliamentarians (MPs and ministers), Muslim clergy, leaders and office bearers of Muslim social organizations, trustees of Mosques and so on. There is no question of any Muslim invitee not attending these functions because they are cherry-picked by the Public Relations Units of the President’s and the Prime Minister’s Offices and / or by the Muslim parliamentarians themselves. The Muslim public in general are neither happy nor annoyed over the hosting of the Iftar by the President and the Prime Minister as they (the Muslims) perceive the hosting as the absolute privilege of the President and the Prime Minister and also as part of governance to honour and show a sense of fraternity to the Muslims. Many Muslims would be very thankful to the two leaders for providing the necessary space to do the Call for Prayers (Azdaan) and performance of prayer of the hour (Mahgrib) to the Muslim invitees there itself. This Iftar function cannot be called political as the practice of hosting Iftar had been in existence during different regimes in Sri Lanka and the speeches given therein by the heads of state are (were) about the values, virtues and benefits of fasting and nothing about the ruling regime’s political views. Apart from the sumptuous food at the time of breaking the fast and at the immediate Iftar dinner and the luxurious interiors of the Presidential House and the Temple Trees, there is nothing whatsoever to be said as distractions in the sense of individual or collective thoughts of the Muslim invitees that may go against the spirit of fasting. 