Religious Events and the Sharing in Common Life

Dr. Michel E. Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches

I write this article on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan, and it is valid in every religious season in my country, be it Christmas, Easter, or Al Fitr.

In normal cases, and whenever civil peace is established, religious events constitute an area for people to interact with each other, socialize and integrate into a social and cultural melting pot, which produces a beautiful public spirit and spreads joy and intimacy among people.

The blessed month of Ramadan, which is the month of fasting for Muslims, in its religious aspect, is a month of prayer and forgiveness. In its social aspect, it becomes an occasion in which families, usually busy with their daily lives, meet and pray and break the fast together.

As for what makes the month of Ramadan a month of intimacy and love, it is that the participants in these daily “occasions”, that is, Iftars, which are breaking the fast at sunset, are not only for Muslims or members of the same family, but the circle expands to include Christian friends, neighbors and co-workers as well.

No, even more. Christians have become holding breakfasts and inviting their Muslim friends or colleagues to them, in an eagerness on both sides to get closer to the other, through religion in its cultural and social dimension, and based on the recommendation of religion to people with love and tolerance in the spirit of mercy.

Moreover, Christians also celebrate Iftars and invite their Muslim friends or colleagues to it, out of eagerness on both sides to get closer to one another through religion in its socio-cultural dimension, as well as based on religion’s admonition of love and tolerance under the auspices of the Lord.

You are not required to embrace the religion of your fellow citizen, nor to convince him of your faith, but rather to respect his belief, rejoice in his joy, and share with him his experience of faith in a spirit of social solidarity,  a fact that indicates if anything social progress and an advanced democratic mentality.

In Beirut, as in all the capitals of Arab countries, people live a Ramadan experience that reconciles hearts and strengthens the bond between people.

 I have witnessed, since my early childhood, how the Lebanese used to live Ramadan with each other and how Christians integrate into the Ramadan traditions in the path of mutual maturation between the social groups,  a fact that applies vice versa as well.

I have received a text about a Palestinian man named Michel Ayoub, stating that this man is a Christian “Mesaharati”, as is called the person who wakes up fasting people to have their last meal before dawn, who has been waking up Muslims for 14 years in the city of Acre in Palestine. The text describes that the voice of the Christian Mesaharati echoes outside the swarm of racist slogans.

Michel Ayoub wakes up at one o'clock in the morning and gets ready to go out with his mission: he roams the streets of Acre until four o'clock in the morning, calling out sleepers with his beautiful voice so that they wake up for “Suhoor”, the last meal before dawn. Windows light up and the people of the neighborhood invite him to come and have Suhoor with them, wishing him glad tidings.

It is the social cohesion, which I call the socio-cultural mutual maturation [Tanadoj in Arabic] resulting from civil peace and social stability.

On the other hand, Muslims in my country follow the same empathetic approach in their relationship with the socio-cultural religious traditions of Christians.

The largest percentage of Muslim families decorate a Christmas tree or set up a nativity grotto without figurines in it, based on the Islamic belief, and celebrate the feast with Christians using the expressions with which Christians greet each other. They also celebrate Christmas and New Year together, although they call the latter Nativity New Year.

Even during the Lebanese war, which lasted for fifteen years, this trend continued, and it increased sharply after the end of the civil war.

Dar Al-Bahij, a center for children with special needs, which was established by the Middle East Council of Churches in the northern Bekaa, in the eighties of the last century, used to display Christmas grottos carved in wood for sale, as an income-generating project, and  sell all these grottos in an area inhabited by Muslims. Even the purchase of the land for this center was made through donations made by the people of the same area to the MECC at the time, in the light of the trust that was established between the MECC and the local people through other previous projects prior to the creation of the aforementioned center.

Daily life and good conduct are the best ways for civil peace and social harmony.

As for the other example that deserves to be mentioned, which clearly shows the extent of closeness between people, is Palm Sunday.

The number of Muslim children who participate in Palm Sunday is very large, and the most important thing is that the choice that the child wants to participate with his Christian peers finds support from the parents who  even joy in doing so. Sometimes the parents decide to include their child in the Palm Sunday procession if he is still very young. You see tens of Muslim children, carried on the shoulders of their parents, roaming the streets in the procession of Palm Sunday, with great happiness.

In the same context, many Muslim families participate in what is known as the “Hajmeh” prayer that takes place on the Day of Resurrection in church celebrations of Easter morning, rejoicing in the participation of the people of their region or village in the joy of the Resurrection Day.

People, naturally, tend to interact positively with each other, and this path only upsets corrupt political leaders who invoke religion in politics, and see political sectarianism as the best way to cover up their deeds.

A normal and balanced social life, in addition to some economic ease, within the framework of a firm state that gives everyone his rights, leads to inclusive citizenship that embraces diversity and rejects racial discrimination.

Sharing a common life, removing psychological barriers between people, and encouraging them to get acquainted with mutual traditions, and even beliefs, are effective ways to prepare a better tomorrow for generations that will blame us if we do not do so.

If we do not succeed in this historic task, we will be in the process of plunging our societies into civil wars every few decades, and future generations will curse us as they leave the country to escape the furnace of racial wars.

The challenge is there, the means of response to it are available and known, and the choice is ours.