| Hi everybody! It's 22 September, a Friday, which is often a pretty quiet day because it is the Islamic holy day. Today it feels like the calm before the storm. This weekend is the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and also a time historically when violence in Iraq goes up. So we're a little extra on edge, wondering what the next few weeks will bring.
As my battalion's subject matter expert on religion, it has been my job to brief all our soldiers (and all the Marines that work for us) on the observance of Ramadan. The first topic of my class is the meaning and practice of the holiday so that we can show respect to local Muslims. I wonder if people back home know just how much effort we take to show respect for a religious holiday that we don't share. We go so far as to tell soldiers that even though they don't observe Ramadan themselves, they need to know about it in detail and not eat/drink/smoke in front of Muslims out of respect for the tradition.
One of my soldiers asked me, "So, do they [local Muslims] get a briefing on respecting our holy days, too?" He asked the question tongue-in-cheek, but it does show how we as Americans are held to an incredibly high standard compared to most of the rest of the world. The thing is, we almost always live up to that standard, difficult though it may be. And we too rarely get credit for that, while our small number of failures rarely seem to be forgotten. Let me be one to stand against that trend, and say again how proud I have become of my soldiers, and the respect and restraint they use in a culture that is so foreign to their own.
The second part of my briefing is on the military history of Ramadan. It has often been a time of increased bloodshed in Muslim history, dating all the way back to Mohammed and the Battle of Badr in the early 600s. The increase in violence has continued during the last 3 years here in Iraq during Ramadan, and it's public knowledge that we are watching for that trend to continue this year.
Anyone who downplays the spiritual dimension to this war would have a tough time explaining to me why violence spikes during the Muslim holy month. I sympathize for Muslims who want this time to be about peaceful spiritual growth in their faith, and who feel their religious beliefs are being hijacked. I wish they would be more vocal about condemning those who practice murder and terror. But even more, I'm putting in extra hours in prayer for my soldiers who have to face whatever extra danger comes during Ramadan, and I ask for your prayers as well to be even more fervent during this potentially deadly time.
God be good to you!
CH Steve Timm
|
