By Babatunde Jose
“Fasting in Ramadan develops in a person the real spirit of social belonging, of unity and brotherhood, and of equality before God. This spirit is the natural product of the fact that when people fast they feel that they are joining the whole Muslim society (which makes up more than one fifth of world’s population) in observing the same duty, in the same manner, at the same time, for the same motives, and for the same end.
No sociologist or historian can say that there has been at any period of history anything comparable to this powerful institution of Islam: “Fasting in the month of Ramadan. People have been crying throughout the ages for acceptable ‘belonging’, for unity, for brotherhood, for equality and justice, but how echoless their voices have been, and how very little success they have met…” says Hammudah Abdalati, in ‘Islam in Focus’.
Islam forbids violence in the holy month of Ramadan, yet there are those recalcitrant elements that will not follow this injunction, but rather foment trouble all over the land; maiming, kidnapping, and killing their fellowmen for some warped reasons. They are the terrorists in religious garb; killing people all over the place in the guise of ‘herdsmen or Boko Haram, ISIS or whatever name they call themselves. We have only one name for them; Terrorists!
At the same time, in our own national discourse, we have seen hateful rhetoric and bigotry from all political quarters reach an alarming crescendo, especially during the last election.
We need to spend time during this holy season praying about the state of the world, and in particular our country Nigeria. There is too much hate in the air. Social media has become one big supermarket for mudslinging and character assassination; all in the name of politics that is now heavily garnished with, ethnic bigotry and religious intolerance.
We need to seek forgiveness for everyone who is misled, who thinks the end justifies the means, who does not understand the teachings of Islam. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) taught us to pray for our enemies, though it is hard, yet it must be done – if not for them, then for our own spiritual enlightenment.
We need to pray for peace in the land. We should pray for a safe world for our children, and our children’s children. But the news these days is hideous, and we are constantly reminded of the following verse in the Quran:
“Surely God changes not the condition of a people until they change what is in their hearts”. (Quran 13:11)
Prayer and reflection only help when one is surrounded with peace. One can recite the Quran and offer additional night-time prayers and fast every day for 365 days, but nothing changes the fact that we live in dangerous and perilous times; and unless we stand up and do something about it, the impending conflagration will consume us all, both the perpetrators and idle spectators.
Politics is part of life now and along with fasting, individual Muslims need to do much more. Protesting, calling our representatives to order, marching with others, helping our neighbours, and even getting educated about a topic we didn’t know much about… all these are ways to make worship more meaningful.
We need to get out there and make change happen. To be docile in the face of monumental injustice is a sin, worse than breaking ones fast. After all, in Islam, worship not only describes rituals related to God, but encompasses everything one does to serve God’s creatures; standing up for justice is one of such acts.
It shouldn’t apply to Muslims alone. People of all faith – or no faith – can join in making these changes and improving our impact upon the world: Right now, the goings on in Palestine should concern us all, particularly the fate of a blockaded people who are being denied fundamental human rights by their Israeli ‘warders’.
The fate of our people in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, and other places where human life has become cheaper than that of common chicken should elicit concern and action. This is the time for action and meaningful change.
So, let’s get out into our communities and make a difference, not just in Ramadan but throughout the year. Only then can we say we are really worshipping God.
Ramadan Kareem
Huthba 2
JESUS: DEATH AND RESURRECTION:
That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allah”; –But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not: (Quran 2:157)
The life of Jesus is shroud in mystery, inscrutability, impenetrability, and inexplicability; right from his birth to the age of 12 after which he disappeared and the Bible had no explanation for his absence, only to suddenly reappear into history at 30, ministry for 3 years and summarily crucified for a crime he did not commit.
The end of the life of Jesus on earth is also involved in ambiguity as his birth. It is not profitable to discuss the many doubts and conjectures among the early Christian sects and among Muslim theologians.
The Gospels record Jesus aged 12 in the temple, then age 30 at the River Jordan. Where was he in the interim? Ancient Buddhist manuscripts say Jesus left Palestine and travelled to India, Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet.
According to ancient Tibetan texts, Jesus secretly withdrew from home at age thirteen. Young “Issa”, as he is known in Asia, joined a merchant caravan. Destination: India and the Himalayas.
Buddhist scholars documented “The Life of Saint Issa” two thousand years ago. Nicolas Notovitch discovered the long-lost document in 1887 at the Himis monastery in Ladakh. Swami Abhedananda published a Bengali translation of the Himis manuscript in 1929. Nicholas Roerich quoted the same verses in a 1929 travel diary of his Asian expedition. And in 1939, a lama at Himis presented a set of parchments to Elisabeth Caspari with the words: “These books say your Jesus was here!”
Today there are many books on the controversial stories of these travellers on the most important events that shaped the life and work of Jesus Christ. They are indeed historical breakthroughs that will shake the foundations of modern Christendom! However, these are stories for another day. As we celebrate Easter, our concern is with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There is no doubt Jesus had a premonition of his end, hence, the last supper and the words the gospel writers had put in his mouth; his going into the Garden of Gethsemane and his fervent prayer to God to let him overcome his travails: Matthew 26:36-46.
The Orthodox Christian Churches make it a cardinal point of their doctrine that his life was taken on the Cross, that he died and was buried, that on the third day he rose in the body with his wounds intact, and walked about and conversed, and ate with his disciples, and was afterwards taken up bodily to heaven. For a detailed expose of this theme, see Philip Schaff, HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Apostolic Christianity A.D. 1–100.
This subject matter of death, resurrection and ascension is necessary for the theological doctrine of blood sacrifice and vicarious atonement for sins, which is rejected by Islam.
The greatest question the concept of blood atonement begs is: After Jesus carried away our sins, are we sinless today? Have we been cleansed? Is man better for all that has been done on his behalf by Christ?
Judging from the iniquities and sin man has committed since the time of Christ, it might be tempting to conclude that Jesus sacrificed his blood in vain for an unrepentant and adulterous generation.
Some of the early Christian sects did not believe that Christ was killed on the Cross. The Basilidans believed that someone else was substituted for him. The Docetae held that Christ never had a real physical or natural body, but only an apparent or phantom body, and that his Crucifixion was only apparent, not real.
The Marcionite Gospel (about A.D. 138) denied that Jesus was born, and merely said that he appeared in human form. The Gospel of St. Barnabas supported the theory of substitution on the Cross, and this tally with the Islamic point of view. The Quranic teaching is that Christ was not crucified nor killed by the Jews:
Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise; (Quran 2:158)
There is a difference of opinion as to the exact interpretation of this verse. The words are: The Jews did not kill Jesus, but Allah raised him up (rafa’u) to Himself. One school holds that Jesus did not die the usual human death, but still lives in the body in heaven, which is the generally accepted Muslim view. Yusuf Ali.
In the Reader: Cambridge Companion to Jesus, the Editor, Markus Bockmuehl, in his introduction wrote: “Two thousand years have come and gone, but still his remains the unfinished story that refuses to go away. Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew from rural first-century Galilee, is without doubt the most famous and most influential human being who ever walked the face of the earth. The global fact is that the adherents of Jesus are more widespread and more numerous and make up a greater part of the world’s population, than at any time in history.”
“The followers of Jesus live in every country of the globe. They read and speak of him in a thousand tongues. For many non-believers, too, indeed to the majority of the earth’s population, Jesus is a household name, whose ‘brand recognition’ still far outstrips that of McDonald’s, Microsoft, or MTV.”
Epistemologically, Jesus and his effects in our world are inextricably intertwined: the man of Nazareth cannot be understood in isolation from the footprint he has left on our collective and individual understanding, feeling and knowing. And yet, there is an obvious and equally ‘historical’ sense in which he is clearly not just ‘a man like any other man’.”
Barka Juma’at and Happy Easter!
+2348033110822
