The time of Ramadan and the Feast

We have reached another month of Ramadan. Every year when Ramadan arrives, we have become well accustomed to sensational topics being pushed onto Turkey's agenda, particularly aimed at discrediting values associated with Ramadan.

In past years, news reports about reactionism—which were never lacking at other times anyway—were enthusiastically supplemented during Ramadan with stories about people being beaten by fanatical religionists for not fasting. Fantastical topics such as worship in Turkish, women fasting during their periods, or alternative ways of breaking the fast were dropped like "bombs" onto the agenda during Ramadan, while the thrust-forward tele-theologians approached all these subjects with the air of "freedom fighters" trying to liberate an occupied religion.

It was clearly felt that a general sense of demoralization spread to the entire public due to the atmosphere of debate created. No one had any doubt that these debates aimed to sabotage the atmosphere generated by the heightened religious sentiments of Ramadan. Over time, these media operations—which had become a style in themselves—diminished in impact as their position in the polarization created during the February 28 period became crystal clear. Once the lines were drawn, the debates conducted over religion produced results that were the exact opposite of what they had intended.

For several years now, despite attempts to the contrary, Ramadan has been experienced in relative peace, further removed from such debates. This year, it became clear that old-style tele-theologians are no longer in demand in the iftar and suhoor programs organized on many TV channels. Instead, the broadcasting of programs that are more moderate, free from controversy and conflict, and focused on the meaning of Ramadan shows not that the will targeting Ramadan has vanished, but simply that it failed to catch on. Not that a few attempts were not made. Perhaps the manner in which the Deniz Feneri incident was handled left no need for the media to seek other material.

Efforts to strip Ramadan of its meaning—along with its fasting, taraweeh, zakat, fitr, and Eid—have never been lacking since the past. The designation "Sugar Feast," which we have recalled again recently as brought up by the Prime Minister, is the name of a project that was heavily emphasized at one time. The policies of an era that succeeded to some extent in rendering Ramadan "invisible," if not "unlivable," sought to strip its Eid of its religious meaning by "sweetening" it.

The sensitive Muslim populace was always reactive against the policies of this period, retaining their own terminology without giving any credence to the official discourse. It has reached such a point that today, only a very small segment of society even remembers why Eid al-Fitr was called the "Sugar Feast" in the first place. Had the Prime Minister not raised the issue in this manner, it might not even have been worth dwelling upon.

Moreover, at this stage, even those who call Eid al-Fitr the "Sugar Feast" most likely do so purely out of habit, completely detached from the intention that spawned the name. As always, the routine, desperate attacks launched against a fifteen-hundred-year-old tradition have remained in all their helplessness, while Ramadan and its Eid have continued to shine in their own essence through the grace of the divine will that ordained them. From now on, let whoever wishes feel the sweet side of this holiday, whoever wishes feel its Ramadan side, and whoever wishes feel its vacation side…

One of the graffiti I can never forget reads, "'God is Dead,' signed Nietzsche," and right beneath it, written with another pen, "'Nietzsche is Dead' (Signed: God)." There is probably no better expression of the subsequent developments in the realm of religion in response to Nietzsche's observation that modernity was destroying thousands of years of religious traditions or feelings. The war waged against Ramadan—and indeed against many of Islam's symbols, the daily prayer, the sacrifice, and especially the headscarf—has a similarly feeble aspect. If the headscarf were truly based on the fantasy or political stubbornness of a few women, it would have been cast aside long ago. Failing to see that it is a manifestation of thousands of years of divine will is a great misery, while believing one can fight against it is mere heedlessness and delusion.

Ramadan is an extremely powerful symbol indelibly embedded into human life by divine will. No matter where society flows, no matter how much it has changed, it eventually turns back to Ramadan, passes through it, and reaches its Eid. With its tarawih prayers, fasting, iftar, self-discipline, the Night of Qadr, compassion for others, zakat, and charity, Ramadan is a process in which all relationships in society are reformatted; it is a stop where time is recalibrated and history takes a pause. During this month, no one can rule over their own time; everyone complies with the time of Ramadan, which asserts its own time with all its elements.

Even in an age where time is viewed entirely as property or cash, Ramadan continues every year to remind us that neither property nor time is under our possession, and instilling this consciousness into our lives—which it enlivens with a holiday every year—it releases us to continue from where we left off.

I wish you a life purified through Ramadan, with its true Owner recognized, and a blessed Eid.