A Christian Keeps the Fast of Ramadan

For the second year in a row, our country prepares for war against a Muslim country as Islam's holy month of Ramadan approaches. And for the second year in a row, this Christian Friend has felt the Lord calling him to join the Muslim world in keeping the fast of Ramadan. This fast is my witness before God that I do not want this war. I have told my elected representatives that I oppose their plans for war, and now I stand before the world's true Ruler, without whose assent they can do nothing, to pray that my people be restrained from bloodying their hands and defiling the earth with a war that I believe will take many innocent lives and grievously stain the honor of the United States. I have fought against these preparations for war with the political weapons of entreaty and peaceable protest; I now take up a weapon of spiritual warfare, the fast, made available to me by the grace of God when I asked, "What can I do now?"

This fast is my witness that it is a sin to kill, a sin to start a war, and a sin to attack worshipers of God at their worship; and all of the observances of Ramadan are worship of God--your God and mine. The fighters and bombers that may fly toward Baghdad under the dark of the next new moon will be, in this respect, as those infamous barbarians that have torched occupied synagogues and church buildings. Military chaplains may suggest to the attackers that they can do their grisly work with clean consciences because it's "for our country" or "for freedom"; but God may judge otherwise. And it's because of this possibility that I warn everyone I can reach. The stay-at-home supporters of this war will be as answerable for it as those that pull the trigger on the front lines. If their consciences are clean, as they may well be by the moral codes they live by, then I will be happy for them. If not, then they may do themselves far more damage--I speak of their souls--than they will do to the people of Iraq whose lives they take.

Forbidden to judge another man's servant (Romans 14:4, for "to his own master he standeth or falleth"), I will say nothing more about the consciences of this war's supporters but that I wish them all to be clean or get clean. My own conscience forbids me to support my country in its prosecution of this war, for I am bound by the commandments "resist not evil" (Matthew 5:39) and "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). I find nothing in the teachings or the example of Jesus that allows me ever to consider a preemptive strike against someone that might hurt me. Jesus Christ forbade and rebuked preemptive strikes (Luke 9:54-56, John 18:11). I beg my fellow Christians to reread the Gospels if they are in doubt. Who, then, calls us "to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live" (Ezekiel 13:19)?

Although I take a strong stand against this war, my fast is also a prayer for the unity of the household of faith and a gesture of goodwill toward those who oppose what I stand for. Worshipers of the One God, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others, may soon find themselves polarized, or more starkly polarized, against other worshipers of God--antiwar Americans against pro-war Americans, Middle Eastern Muslims against Western Christians and Jews, Israelis against Palestinians. But the One we worship has commanded us to love one another. My fast is a witness that we are bound together by that commandment and obliged to show proof of that love.

I pray for the well-being of my country and its rulers, as I pray for the well-being of Iraq. But as I pray, I can imagine nothing better for my country now, or for its enemies, than a great effort at self-restraint. Enough self-restraint to prevent a war now might even allow us the deep and general repentance we so desperately need to check our arrogance. This in turn might make room in our hearts for the Lord to gather us into that life and power that takes away the occasion for all wars. For more than we need anything that war could gain us, we need repentance--for our irresponsible stewardship of the earth and its resources, of one another, and of our own souls. Repentance--for our greed for power and control; for our willful disregard of the claims of the common good; for our willful ignoring of the sufferings of the world's poor as we enjoy our own wealth. Repentance for our complicity in the crimes and lies of those with power over us. There is much that we all have to repent, and it will not do to point to the rich and mighty and ask that they repent first. They may in fact need us to repent first if they are to be healed.

But God's will be done. Having expressed what is on my heart, I go into the fast with trust that whatever the Lord permits to happen will be for our good. For this fast is, above all, my witness to the goodness of God, who will give guidance and understanding to anyone--Christian, Jew, Muslim, even atheist--who will relinquish self-will for obedience to the Highest Love and Wisdom.

In undertaking this fast, I don't intend to endorse any articles of Islamic faith that differ from the teachings of the Gospel of Christ; and in general I would never encourage any practice that did not win the approval of the divine witness in one's own heart. But for non-Muslims interested in knowing the customs of the Ramadan fast, these are the essentials as best I know them:

  1. The fast involves refraining from food, drink and sexual activity from the first light of dawn until sunset over the lunar month extending from sunset, 11/6/2002 to sunset, 12/5/2002. During this month one is encouraged to nourish oneself well during the night hours, for the fast is not meant to be a time of hardship (Qur'an 2:185) but rather one of purification, "that [ye] may learn self-restraint" (Qur'an 2:187, Yusuf Ali tr.). Calendars are available showing the times for fasting and breaking the fast each day in a given locality.

  2. It involves abstinence from all immoral behavior. In words attributed (according to Al-Bukhari) to the Prophet Muhammad, "If one does not abandon falsehood in words and deeds, Allah has no need for his abandoning of his food and drink." Cursing and speaking hurtfully in anger are likewise forbidden.

  3. It is obligatory for adult Muslims not exempted. However, children, the elderly, the ill, the insane, travelers, and women menstruating, pregnant, or nursing--in general, all those for whom fasting might be a hardship--are, or may be, exempted from fasting.

  4. Brushing the teeth, swallowing things that are unavoidable (like saliva, or airborne dust and smoke), and unintentional vomiting do not constitute fast-breaking. However, the smoke of tobacco or incense, or the scent of perfume, is not to be sought out or voluntarily partaken of.

Whenever we fast, the Gospel advises us to fast in secret (Matthew 6:16-18); and so I have tried to publicize my intentions here, as I have done, without making known my identity. I share my intention to observe Ramadan in hope that Muslims may take comfort from having the company of a non-Muslim friend in their annual fast, and that other non-Muslim people of faith may consider whether they are called to join me in this witness.

name withheld
October 24, 2002

The author of this writing encourages free and wide distribution of it, but asks that it not be edited or excerpted, but passed on in its entirety. If you agree with some of it but do not wish to pass on all of it, the author encourages you to write your own testimony.