Word For Peace
By Mushtaq Ul Haque Sikandar, Sri Nagar, Jammu & Kashmir
The spirit of fasting is to inculcate moderation in our lives. Every human is capable of indulging in plunder and loot, given the fact that he enjoys supremacy over other living creatures. But religion, morality and laws intend to regulate this supremacy and channelise it in a productive manner. Man’s desires are to be disciplined so that anarchy does not become order of the day.
Ramdan teaches us this lesson, disciplines our desires, and reins in our unbridled instincts to submit before the will of Almighty. The basic lesson of Ramdan is that we are not masters of our body and desires but should give this right to Almighty Allah who is our benefactor and has send his Holy Book Quran as a guide for us.
Women since time immemorial have been marginalized through patriarchal structures enacted by men and previleged women. The domestic chores have been assigned to her as if God had sent them as a decree and verdict. The labor that our women put in daily is unaccounted and unpaid. With time we become so conditioned that it appears normal.
Let us pledge this Ramdan to appreciate our women, for the work they put in voluntarily. It is because of them that our Ramdan is made comfortable and we are able to pray with diligent concentration and focus. Ramdan should render us sensitive to emphathize with them and help them with the domestic chores.
Women and men enjoy similar status in the eyes of Allah. Living a life of piety and earning good deeds can elevate their status before Allah. Biological differences and gender construction have no worth for attaining salvation. Women due to biological distinction remain impure for few days but spiritually it does not matter. The purity of character is what Ramdan aims at. Women earn good deeds in abundance as they serve their men and attend to their needs. The time they utilize in cooking, washing, cleaning and attending to children can be coupled with recitation of sacred verses of Qur’an or indulging in Zikr. Also men should join them to provide helping hand in the domestic chores as is illustrated by the example of Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). If men can complain of fatigue, but women do face it without complaints. Ramdan is the time to lessen the aburden of our womenfolk.
By Mushtaq UL haq Ahmad Sikander, J&K