Here is Tim’s message at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
As-Salamu Alaykum
Today I join the many Muslims in the UK and across the world in welcoming the Holy Month of Ramadan.
We in the UK are privileged to have in our society the benefit of many religions and many cultures, that have weaved over several decades, in a rich tapestry of friendship and togetherness.
I know that for all of these communities, and especially for Muslims during Ramadan, the refugee crisis is at the forefront of our thoughts, with Ramadan reminding us all to remember the daily struggles of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
As we make collective efforts to bring to an end the refugee crisis, let us hope that when the moon appears for Eid-ul-Fitr in a months time common humanity will compel more of the nations leaders to do more.
As the month of Ramadan begins, may the special message and the celebration of these holy days uplift each of you and add to the vitality of our community.
Thank you and Ramadan Kareem.
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3 Comments
One aspect of fasting for religious reasons is to remind us of poverty and suffering elsewhere. We who do it are fasting voluntarily, others are not. It is also about self-control, the ability to resist what surface desire tells us to do. This is an aspect of liberalism that almost no-one who calls themselves “liberal” these days thinks of (very different from 19th century liberalism), but I feel an important one as it seems to me that in modern consumer society many are trapped because lack of self control is actually encouraged rather than resisted.
A key aspect of Ramadan is that it is about caring for others and being charitable. What a pity Tim Farron entirely ignores that. Islam has a bad image now because the dominant figures in the religion seem to want to promote those aspects of it that can be interpreted in terms of aggression. There is a desperate need for building up a version of Islam that concentrates on those more positive aspects, which OUGHT to be what true followers of the religion are all about.
Part of the reason for this, it seems to me, is that well-meaning people in the west do seem to spend too much time pushing the victim culture in Islam, which builds up into this aggressive way of thinking. We can see Tim Farron doing that here. It is time to stop that, because we can see what it leads to: war and fighting among Muslims, but too much readiness to say “poor little us, it’s the west that’s to blame for all this” rather than to accept any responsibility, that perhaps a culture of violence has been allowed to grow in the Muslim world, and it is the Muslim world that needs to act itself to reverse that, by shifting their emphasis on what their religion should be about, in the way I have suggested.
Also, I think if one want to push the message about Islam now being an established part of Britain, it is not a good idea to go on and on linking it to refugees, as if most Muslims here are recent refugees rather than long-standing immigrants, and the children and grandchildren of such born here.
Matthew Huntbach
A very interesting and yet reflective and provocative response worth following up. I can see you have a knowledge of the religion that must be to a great extent from experience, valid and welcome to those whose awareness is, on this , more academic or basic , certainly not from ones own experience , directly.
I do know we all have experience , as Liberal Democrats, or significant awareness amongst those who may not have met him, of our party leader, Tim. I am intrigued by your constructive but sharp criticism. I do not share in it , as I think he was in his message finding common cause on an issue he feels strongly on , and is a cultural and religious diplomat at heart, as with most Anglicans , even more evangelical ones, at least in the liberal and Liberal tradition.
But your views and experience here are certainly worth listening to.
Throughout the time of Nick Clegg’s leadership, I wrote comments in discussions here, making suggestions on what he should do and say. Almost always he did the exact opposite, and see what happened to the party.
In this case, I am disappointed with Tim Farron, as I thought since he has a religious background himself that might be something that would enable him to be more perceptive than he has been here. Sure, he means well, as did Nick Clegg. However, with both of them, I find they are just so trite.
Given that Tim Farron is to the left of the party, it might be supposed that I would be a great supporter of his. I did vote for him in the leadership election in the end, but the choice was somewhat limited. Prior to that my position had been “anyone but Farron”. This message is indicative of why: means well, but shows no deep thought.
I always try to be constructive in criticism because I have a firm belief that one ought not to oppose something unless one can at least hint at a viable alternative, and ideally more than hint.