tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/eid-42037/articlesEid – The Conversation2023-08-08T20:05:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2109802023-08-08T20:05:49Z2023-08-08T20:05:49ZWorldcoin is scanning eyeballs to build a global ID and finance system. Governments are not impressed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541601/original/file-20230808-25-mlnz26.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2560%2C1708&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Worldcoin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of people worldwide are lining up to stare into a silver sphere about the size of a bowling ball so their irises can be scanned in exchange for online identity verification and “free” cryptocurrency. </p>
<p>The silver spheres, known as “Orbs”, are part of the <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/07/1077250/worldcoin-officially-launched-why-its-being-investigated/">Worldcoin platform</a>, which officially launched in July 2023 after an 18-month testing phase. Led by Sam Altman (chief executive of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT) and entrepreneur Alex Blania, Worldcoin offers users a “digital passport” known as World ID and small allocations of a cryptocurrency token also called Worldcoin (WLD), “<a href="https://worldcoin.org/cofounder-letter">simply for being human</a>”. </p>
<p>Worldcoin aims to provide a “<a href="https://worldcoin.org/blog/worldcoin/proof-of-personhood-what-it-is-why-its-needed">proof of personhood</a>” to distinguish humans from artificial intelligence (AI) systems online. </p>
<p>However, critics say the company is essentially bribing people to hand over highly sensitive biometric data. Governments are taking note: the Worldcoin platform has already been suspended in Kenya, and is under investigation in several other countries.</p>
<h2>Gaze into the Orb</h2>
<p>Users can download the WorldApp on their mobile phone, then find their “nearest Orb”. The Orb uses iris scans to uniquely identify a person. </p>
<p>Once the person has their iris scanned, they receive a World ID which will function as an online ID much like a Google or Facebook login. World ID is meant to be different because it can prove the user is human – and more private, because it does not link to other personal information about the user. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541648/original/file-20230808-15-37xtfa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Worldcoin says an iris scan can be used as ‘proof of personhood’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Worldcoin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the “digital passport” label, World ID is not intended to reveal or verify a user’s identity in the conventional sense. It merely establishes the user as “a unique and real person”, rather than a bot. </p>
<p>In most countries, the user is also entitled to units of WLD cryptocurrency once their iris scan is complete.</p>
<p>The Worldcoin website currently lists <a href="https://worldcoin.org/find-orb">60 Orb locations</a> worldwide, particularly in Europe, Asia, North America and South America, and notes there will also be Orb “pop-ups”. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, there appear to be no Orb locations in Australia, so people in Australia cannot earn WLD tokens “for being human”. But they can purchase the WLD cryptocurrency via certain cryptocurrency exchanges and download the World App, which also functions as a cryptocurrency wallet. </p>
<h2>Cash for eyeballs jeopardises human rights</h2>
<p>Altman is a key player in the AI boom that supposedly makes Worldcoin necessary, so critics have <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/cryptocurrency/worldcoin-sam-altman-ai-biometric-data-collection-outlandish-bribe">suggested</a> he is “simply profiting from both AI’s problem and solution”. </p>
<p>When the Worldcoin platform officially launched, after signing up some 2 million users in a testing phase, Altman said the Orbs were scanning a <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/sam-altman-claims-worldcoin-onboarding-1-user-every-8-seconds-despite-skepticism-and-waning-interest/">new user every eight seconds</a>. </p>
<p>In Kenya, the launch saw “tens of thousands of individuals waiting in lines over a three-day period to secure a World ID”, which Worldcoin attributed to <a href="https://time.com/6300522/worldcoin-sam-altman/">“overwhelming” demand</a> for identity verification. </p>
<p>Independent reporting suggests the promise of “free” cryptocurrency was a more common motive. In most locations, Worldcoin offers a “<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/07/24/worldcoin-release-tokenomics-report-geofenced-for-some-countries/">genesis grant</a>” of 25 units of its WLD cryptocurrency when users scan their irises. (The value of WLD fluctuates, but the grant has been worth around US$50, or $A75, over the past month.)</p>
<p>People queuing for the Orb in Kenya <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66383325">told the BBC</a> “I want to register because I’m jobless and I’m broke,” and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I really like Worldcoin because of the money. I’m not worried about the data. As long as the money comes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Orb operators are also <a href="https://worldcoin.org/be-a-worldcoin-operator">paid for each user they sign up</a>.</p>
<p>Critics have labelled this strategy of paying people to scan their irises as <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/cryptocurrency/worldcoin-sam-altman-ai-biometric-data-collection-outlandish-bribe">dystopian and equivalent to bribery</a>. </p>
<p>Offering money for sensitive data arguably makes privacy – a human right – a luxury only the wealthy can afford. People experiencing poverty may risk future harms to meet their immediate survival needs. </p>
<h2>‘Cataloguing eyeballs’: the risks of using biometric data</h2>
<p>Worldcoin uses irises for verification because every iris is unique and therefore difficult to fake. But the risks of handing over such data are very high. Unlike a driver’s licence or a passport, you cannot replace your iris if the data is compromised. </p>
<p>Surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden has criticised Worldcoin for “<a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1451990496537088000">cataloguing eyeballs</a>”, and <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1451993036196618251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">tweeted</a> about the unacceptable risks: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Don’t use biometrics for anything. […] The human body is not a ticket-punch.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Worldcoin claims the iris scans are deleted after being converted into a unique iris code, which becomes the user’s World ID. The World ID is then stored on a decentralised blockchain, with the aim of preventing fakes or duplicates.</p>
<p>However, the iris scan is only deleted <em>if</em> the user opts for the “Without Data Storage” option (which may mean they need to return to an Orb to re-verify in the future). If the user selects the “<a href="https://worldcoin.org/privacy">With Data Storage</a>” option, Worldcoin states the iris scan is sent via encrypted communication channels to its distributed data stores where it is encrypted at rest.</p>
<p>In either case, the user must <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/07/1077250/worldcoin-officially-launched-why-its-being-investigated/">simply trust</a> the company to delete the biometric data, or appropriately secure it against misuse. </p>
<p>There have been many instances in which Silicon Valley companies have promised to secure data and to strictly limit its use, only to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/03/tech/ftc-meta-younger-users/index.html">break those promises</a> by disclosing the data to other companies or government agencies or failing to secure it against attack.</p>
<p>Journalist Eileen Guo also points out that Worldcoin has not yet clarified <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/07/1077250/worldcoin-officially-launched-why-its-being-investigated/">whether it still uses stored biometric data to train AI models</a> and whether it has deleted biometric data collected during its test phase.</p>
<p>And despite the supposed security of biometric scanning, there have already been reports of fraudulent uses of the Worldcoin system. For example, <a href="https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia/status/1659060950748782594">black market speculators</a> are alleged to have persuaded people in Cambodia and Kenya to sign up for Worldcoin and then sell their World IDs and WLD tokens for cash. </p>
<h2>Regulatory action</h2>
<p>Regulators in several countries are taking action. The Kenyan government has now suspended Worldcoin’s activities, stating regulatory concerns surrounding the project “require urgent action”. </p>
<p>The Communications Authority of Kenya and Office of the Data Protection Commissioner say they are concerned about the offer of money in exchange for consent to data collection; how securely the data are stored; and “<a href="https://www.ca.go.ke/index.php/ca-and-data-commissioner-warn-kenyans-over-worldcoin">massive citizen data in the hands of private actors without an appropriate framework</a>”. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/frances-privacy-watchdog-says-worldcoin-legality-seems-questionable-2023-07-28/">German privacy watchdog</a> is investigating Worldcoin’s business practices with support from the French privacy regulator, which called Worldcoin’s data practices “questionable”. The <a href="https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2023/07/ico-statement-on-worldcoin/">UK Information Commissioner’s Office</a> has announced it will investigate Worldcoin, referring to the high risk of processing special category biometric data.</p>
<p>While there are no Orbs in Australia yet, the federal privacy regulator has previously found some companies in <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/AICmr/2021/50.html?context=1;query=20initiated20into22;mask_path=">breach of the privacy law</a> for failing to obtain valid consent for the use of biometric data and collecting it when it was not reasonably necessary.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katharine Kemp receives funding from the UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation. She is a Member of the Expert Panel of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, and the Australian Privacy Foundation.</span></em></p>Worldcoin wants to provide ‘proof of personhood’ in an AI-filled future, but critics and governments are unimpressedKatharine Kemp, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law & Justice, and Deputy Director, Allens Hub for Technology, Law & Innovation, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1821972022-04-29T21:08:06Z2022-04-29T21:08:06ZStudents lead more public schools to close for Islamic holidays<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460582/original/file-20220429-14592-n08s9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C22%2C7337%2C4880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Several school districts across the country will close in observance of Eid, a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/writing-in-a-notebook-royalty-free-image/871328144">FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Some public school districts across the nation will be closed on <a href="https://www.mtvernoncsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=20&ModuleInstanceID=2255&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=10277&PageID=33">Monday, May 2, 2022</a>, or <a href="https://www.philasd.org/blog/2022/04/28/eidalfitr/#:%7E:text=On%20Tuesday%2C%20May%203rd%2C%202022,to%2Dsunset%20fasting%20of%20Ramadan.">Tuesday, May 3, 2022</a>, in observance of the Islamic holiday <a href="https://isna.net/month-of-ramadan/">Eid al-Fitr</a>, a festive celebration marking the end of the month of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-ramadan-means-to-muslims-4-essential-reads-116629">Ramadan</a>, a month of fasting observed by Muslims worldwide. In the following Q&A, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=COz6BG8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Amaarah DeCuir</a>, an education researcher who specializes in issues of concern to Muslim students, illuminates some of the forces that are moving more school districts to close in observance of the Islamic holiday.</em></p>
<h2>How common is it for public schools to close for Islamic holidays?</h2>
<p>When New York City <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/04/new-york-city-muslim-holidays-public-schools">announced in 2015</a> that it would close its public schools in observance of Islam’s two most sacred holidays, it became the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/nyregion/new-york-to-add-two-muslim-holy-days-to-public-school-calendar.html">first big-city school district in the U.S. to do so</a>.</p>
<p>The New York City public school system is the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_215.30.asp">largest in the nation</a>, and <a href="https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2008/september/post-911-nyc-muslim-public-school-students-feel-safe-but-/#:%7E:text=About%20one%20in%2010%20students,included%20focus%20groups%20and%20ethnography.">about 10% of its student population</a> identifies as Muslim.</p>
<p>By the time New York City schools began to close for Eid, several smaller school districts had already been doing so for more than a decade. For instance, the Irvington school district in New Jersey <a href="https://www.religionnewsblog.com/5039/schools-slowly-adding-muslim-holiday-to-day-off-list">began to close for the Eid al-Fitr in 2003</a>.</p>
<p>In recent years, more and more school districts have begun to close in observance of Eid holidays. Those school districts include districts such as the <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Eid+made+holiday+in+Vermont+city+schools.-a0222678917">Burlington School District</a> in Vermont, which began to close for Eid al-Fitr in 2010, and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/04/20/detroit-schools-close-muslim-holiday-eid-al-fitr/3522641002/">Detroit</a>, which began to close its public schools for Eid holidays in 2019.</p>
<p>The list also includes <a href="https://www.philasd.org/blog/2022/04/28/eidalfitr/">Philadelphia</a>; <a href="https://p3cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_166764/File/BCPS%20Calendar%2021-22.pdf">Baltimore</a>; <a href="https://pgcmc.org/eid-ul-fitr-a-public-school-holiday-in-2021/">Prince George’s County in Maryland</a>; <a href="https://www.fcps.edu/calendars/standard-school-year-calendar/2021-22-school-year-calendar/2021-22-religious-and-cultural">Fairfax County</a>, <a href="https://loudounnow.com/2020/12/02/school-board-adds-4-holidays-for-next-school-year/">Loudoun County</a> and <a href="https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/prince-william-school-board-approves-2021-22-calendar-with-diverse-holidays/article_cbf29988-1f09-11eb-aa88-bfb26f06670a.html">Prince William County</a>, all in northern Virginia; and several districts across <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/education/minnesota-school-calendars-eid/">Minnesota</a>, which has a <a href="https://religionsmn.carleton.edu/exhibits/show/history-muslims/muslims-mn">sizable Muslim population</a>.</p>
<h2>Why take a day off if Muslims are a minority?</h2>
<p>In some cases, significant numbers of students were not coming to school on Eid al-Fitr anyway – and school officials began to take note. For instance, a school superintendent in Burlington, Vermont, once related that <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Eid+made+holiday+in+Vermont+city+schools.-a0222678917">about 75 of Burlington High School’s roughly 1,100 students were absent on Eid al-Fitr</a> in 2009 – about 25 more than on a typical school day. In the Fairfax County Public School system, reports show that <a href="https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/Absence%20Data%20Final3.pdf">33.3% and 38.5% more students than usual were absent from school</a> on Eid al-Fitr holidays in 2016 and 2017, respectively.</p>
<p>But absenteeism isn’t the only factor at play. Some school districts are beginning to observe Eid holidays as a matter of <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/education/minnesota-school-calendars-eid/">commitment to equal recognition</a> for Muslim families.</p>
<p>In the Hopkinton Public Schools, in Massachusetts, one school board leader noted that closing school for Eid holidays could <a href="https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/news/education/2022/02/05/hopkinton-schools-add-eid-lunar-new-year-no-school-holidays/6657230001/">attract a more diverse</a> pool of educators by not forcing them to take personal days to observe the holiday. In Detroit, a school leader said that closing for Eid holidays was a statement to celebrate the <a href="https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2019/4/16/21107970/detroit-school-board-votes-to-close-schools-for-muslim-holiday-of-eid-al-fitr">diversity</a> of the community.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zVbC4vmzeSI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims across the world.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who is leading efforts to get public schools to close for Eid?</h2>
<p>In many cases Muslim students are initiating efforts to gain support for schools to close for Eid al-Fitr. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, for instance, a <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/eid-al-fitr-to-become-official-school-holiday-in-bridgeport-schools-2023-24-school-year">group of eighth grade students in a civics class</a> got the school board to close schools for Eid al-Fitr. In Montclair, New Jersey, school officials decided to close for Eid as called for by a fifth grade Muslim girl’s <a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/montclair-schools-will-observe-eid-holiday-after-girl-s-petition">online petition</a>. </p>
<p>In Iowa City, Iowa, a Muslim high school girl <a href="https://www.kcrg.com/2021/04/14/iowa-city-schools-to-take-days-off-for-muslim-and-jewish-holidays-following-student-led-campaign/">advocated</a> for over three years to promote the observance of Eid before the school system there decided to do so. And a student in Detroit helped persuade school board members there through an <a href="https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2019/4/16/21107970/detroit-school-board-votes-to-close-schools-for-muslim-holiday-of-eid-al-fitr">op-ed</a> <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2019/01/24/detroit-schools-eid-holidays/2639980002/">in the Detroit Free Press</a> to close in observance of Eid.</p>
<p>In some cases, such as in Baltimore, efforts to get public schools to close in observance of Eid have been described as a “<a href="https://www.nassp.org/publication/principal-leadership/volume-20/principal-leadership-april-2020/pins-and-posts-april-2020/">decadeslong battle</a>.” I predict that as more Muslim students call for public schools to close in observance of Eid, it won’t take nearly as long for additional schools to recognize the value of honoring Islamic holidays as other schools have done in recent years.</p>
<h2>What about calculating when the holidays begin?</h2>
<p>Since Muslims go by a <a href="https://islamonline.net/en/ramadan-and-the-lunar-calendar/">lunar calendar</a>, which is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/lunar-year">about 11 days shorter</a> than the 365-day solar calendar that most Americans use, the exact date of Eid al-Fitr changes from year to year.</p>
<p>And not everyone is in agreement about when a particular lunar month begins. Some Muslims go by <a href="https://fiqhcouncil.org/calendar/">astronomical calculations</a> to project the Islamic calendar well into the future. For instance, one Islamic calendar has <a href="https://fiqhcouncil.org/calendar/">projected specific Eid dates into the year 2045</a>. Other Muslims prefer to use traditional methods of local <a href="https://hilalcommittee.org/">moonsighting</a>, which involves using the naked eye to actually see the crescent of the moon to determine the start and end of a lunar month. </p>
<p>This partially explains why there could be different start and end dates for Ramadan on any given year that are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/04/25/when-is-eid-al-fitr-2022-this-weekends-rare-shawwal-black-moon-will-end-ramadan-and-cause-a-risky-solar-eclipse-as-the-planets-align/?sh=2a06bd125b41">one day apart</a>. School district leaders may want to defer to whichever method is used by local Muslim authorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amaarah DeCuir does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>School districts throughout the nation are beginning to heed calls to give students and teachers a day off in observance of the Eid al Fitr, a major Islamic holiday held at the end of Ramadan.Amaarah DeCuir, Senior Professorial Lecturer in Education, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1550232021-08-30T21:09:05Z2021-08-30T21:09:05ZWhat do Muslims believe and do? Understanding the 5 pillars of Islam<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432050/original/file-20211115-19-w8ohj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C7%2C5238%2C3447&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim women break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/muslimgirls-iftar-for-ramadan-sharing-dates-royalty-free-image/689079176?adppopup=true"> Muslim Girl/ DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>For people who would like to learn more about Islam, The Conversation is publishing <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/understanding-islam-108919">a series of articles</a>, available on our website or as <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/understanding-islam-79">six emails delivered every other day</a>, written by Senior Religion and Ethics Editor Kalpana Jain. Over the past few years she has commissioned dozens of articles on Islam written by academics. These articles draw from that archive and have been checked for accuracy by religion scholars.</em></p>
<p></p><hr><p></p>
<p>When I was growing up in India, my father’s Muslim friends would get me new clothes for Eid al-Fitr, a festival that celebrates the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, just as they would for their own children. Later in the day, loads of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb-SdMvzeLA">sewain</a>, a vermicelli dessert filled with nuts, would be sent to our home. </p>
<p>I learned about many cultural rituals in these interactions, but as someone who is not a Muslim, I did not have a deep theological understanding of the Islamic faith until reading the writings of our scholars as an ethics and religion editor. </p>
<p>Today, we will take you through some of the basic tenets of the Islamic faith. </p>
<p>For Muslims, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/profilesmuhammed.html">Prophet Muhammad</a> is the most revered of all men. He is the last and most authoritative in a line of prophets that includes Moses and Jesus and is believed to have received direct revelations from God through the archangel Gabriel. </p>
<p>These revelations form the basis of the Muslim holy text, the Quran. The Quran refers to God as Allah, which is the Arabic word for God.</p>
<p>Muslims belong to many different sects – including some you may have heard of, like Sunni and Shiite – but they all share these same fundamental beliefs.</p>
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<h2>The Islamic faith</h2>
<p>There are five pillars – or basic tenets – of the Islamic faith. These are professing one’s faith; praying five times a day; giving zakat, or donating a certain portion of one’s wealth; fasting during Ramadan; and making a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p>Each of these pillars is an important part of being Muslim. As scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rose-s-aslan-505827">Rose Aslan</a> writes, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-richard-dawkins-doesnt-get-about-the-muslim-call-to-prayer-100576">Many Muslims organize their days around the call to prayer and others stop what they are doing during the call and make supplications to God</a>.” </p>
<p>In countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and India, the call to prayer can be heard through loudspeakers mounted on minarets. The sacred text is recited by professionals to evoke piety in their listeners.</p>
<p>Muslims pray in the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Inside mosques, a prayer niche, a recess in the wall, known as the mihrab, indicates the direction of Mecca.</p>
<p>Scholars explain that for many Muslims, the practice of prayer helps them experience God in an intimate way. The <a href="http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/about_rumi.html">13th-century Persian Sufi poet Rumi</a> spoke of his experience of prayer as a “delight,” that opened the “window” of his soul. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photo of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417704/original/file-20210824-19623-1tle58m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Kaaba (black structure in middle) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has deep religious meaning to Muslims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flickr.com/photos/76868981@N04/7046119769/in/album-72157629377343866/">UmmSqueaky/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For all Muslims who have the “physical and financial ability” to undertake the journey, the five-day pilgrimage to the Great Mosque of Mecca and the surrounding area is an obligation to be undertaken once in their lives. Inside the Great Mosque of Mecca is a black, cube-shaped structure, the Holy Kaaba.</p>
<p>The Kaaba holds a deep religious significance for Muslims. The Quran tells the story of Ibrahim, who, when commanded by God, agreed to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-chitwood-160245">Ken Chitwood</a> explains that Muslims believe the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">Kaaba holds the black stone upon which Ibrahim was to sacrifice Ismail</a>.</p>
<p>The pilgrimage ends with Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice.”</p>
<h2>Fasts and feasts</h2>
<p>If you have heard about or seen your Muslim neighbors fasting, then what they are observing is Ramadan. Muslims believe that the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad during the month of Ramadan. </p>
<p>Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and lasts either 29 or 30 days. During Ramadan, Muslims observe a fast from sunrise to sunset each day, so they wake up early to share food before the sun appears and end it in later in the evening.</p>
<p>In the 12-month Gregorian calendar used in much of the world, the timing of Ramadan can vary from year to year. The dates depend on when the new crescent moon is visible. </p>
<p>The fasting, as scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mohammad-hassan-khalil-274989">Mohammad Hassan Khalil</a> explains, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">is a way for Muslims to be conscious of God</a>. It is also meant to help them understand what it is like to be poor.</p>
<p>The fasting ends with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. Muslim communities often organize large feasts for breaking the fast that are known as “Iftaar” (literally, “breakfast”) at which people from all religions are welcomed. I’ve often attended Iftaar feasts in India. </p>
<p>On Eid, Muslims gather in the mosque for prayers, which are followed by celebrations. In many South Asian countries, sewain are distributed around to friends and neighbors. But customs can vary, and Muslims from different countries and cultures <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-eid-2017-a-peek-into-the-lives-of-puerto-rican-muslims-78798">will bring their unique food and traditions</a> to the celebrations of this holy day.</p>
<p><em>This article was reviewed for accuracy by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-chitwood-160245">Ken Chitwood</a>, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures & Societies at Freie Universität Berlin. He is also a journalist-fellow at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture.</em></p>
<p><strong>Fact:</strong> The first Muslim to ever recite the call to prayer was Bilal Ibn Rabah, son of an enslaved Abyssinian woman, in the city of Medina in the seventh century. At the time, early Muslims were <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_25461">debating the best way to audibly announce</a> the time for prayer so people would know when to gather at the mosque. <em>– From an <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-richard-dawkins-doesnt-get-about-the-muslim-call-to-prayer-100576">article</a> written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rose-s-aslan-505827">Rose Aslan</a>, Assistant Professor of Religion, California Lutheran University.</em></p>
<p><strong>Do now:</strong> Listen to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3paZoyU-1aE">these sounds of the call to prayer</a>, and ask yourself how they make you feel. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3paZoyU-1aE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><strong>In the next issue: <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-understanding-islam-who-is-an-american-muslim-155024">Who is an American Muslim</a>?</strong></p>
<p></p><hr><p></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418526/original/file-20210830-15-1ra150d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>You can read all six articles in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/understanding-islam-108919">Understanding Islam series on TheConversation.com</a>, or we can deliver them straight to your inbox if you <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/understanding-islam-79">sign up for our email newsletter course</a>.</em></p>
<p></p><hr><p></p>
<h2>Articles from The Conversation in this edition:</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">Explaining the Muslim pilgrimage of hajj</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-significance-of-friday-prayers-in-islam-113702">What is the significance of Friday prayers in Islam?</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Why Ramadan is Ramadan: 6 questions answered</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/on-eid-2017-a-peek-into-the-lives-of-puerto-rican-muslims-78798">On Eid 2017, a peek into the lives of Puerto Rican Muslims</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Further Reading and Resources:</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.ispu.org/journalists/">Institute of Social Policy and Understanding</a>: ISPU conducts research to help journalists and others better understand the lives of American Muslims.</p></li>
<li><p>“<a href="https://www.sunypress.edu/p-1542-islam.aspx">Islam: An Introduction</a>,” by Annemarie Schimmel: A comprehensive introduction to Islam by an influential Islamic scholar who was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Day 2 of our Understanding Islam series. There are five pillars – or basic tenets – of Islamic faith. Each of these pillars is an important part of being Muslim.Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor/ Director of the Global Religion Journalism InitiativeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647322021-07-19T15:10:23Z2021-07-19T15:10:23ZPasha 116: Why events like Eid celebrations can be superspreaders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411929/original/file-20210719-25-i41sfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the elements that contribute to a rise in COVID-19 infections is gatherings. Ramadan (the month when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset) and Eid (the celebration after the month) are times when gatherings appear to have contributed to the deaths of many in the Muslim community. <a href="http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/13326">Research</a> has found that Muslims make up around 2% of South Africa’s population, yet account for 5% of the total COVID deaths so far. </p>
<p>A similar trend was seen in Indonesia, which is experiencing high waves of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Many of the deaths were around the time of Ramadan and Eid. Gatherings can be superspreader events – in any religion or society.<br>
The research also looked at mortality rates in South Africa. It found that people of Indian and Malay descent were more likely than other population groups to succumb to the virus. It is important that people try to avoid gatherings when the next Eid takes place around 21 July. </p>
<p>In today’s episode of Pasha, Salim Parker, an honorary research associate at the department of medicine at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, discusses how gatherings can be superspreader events and how to avoid the risk. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Photo:</strong><br>
“South African Muslims gather to perform Eid al-Fitr prayer within precautions against the novel type of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, at the Quds Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa on May 14, 2021.” Byabiso Mkhabela/Anadolu Agency via <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/south-african-muslims-gather-to-perform-eid-al-fitr-prayer-news-photo/1232881817?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a> </p>
<p><strong>Music:</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p>
<p>“Ambient guitar X1 - Loop mode” by frankum, found on <a href="https://freesound.org/people/frankum/sounds/393520/">Freesound</a> licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Attribution License</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164732/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Gatherings can lead to the deaths of many people if coronavirus infections spread. It is important for people to stick to regulations such as those about avoiding close contact and confined spaces.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1589552021-06-02T20:09:23Z2021-06-02T20:09:23ZIndonesia may be on the cusp of a major COVID spike. Unlike its neighbours, though, there is no lockdown yet<p>No one really knows the true state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, and that means it is unpredictable. But there are good reasons to worry about what will happen next.</p>
<p>Fifteen months after Indonesia reported its first case of COVID-19, testing for the coronavirus remains among the lowest in Asia. Perhaps because it is not free, testing has reached only around <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/full-list-cumulative-total-tests-per-thousand-map">40 per 1,000 people</a>, compared with 115 in the Philippines, 373 in Malaysia, and more than 2,000 in Singapore. </p>
<p>Testing is better even in Myanmar, where a military coup has triggered daily protests and an increasingly fraught security situation.</p>
<p>And Indonesia’s test results are not reliable. The country is still excessively reliant on <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/09/04/false-security-who-advises-against-using-covid-19-rapid-test-as-travel-requirement.html">rapid antigen tests</a>, which are less accurate than PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesian-made-covid-19-breathalyser-sensitivity-comparable-to-rt-pcr-155497">Indonesian-made COVID-19 breathalyser sensitivity comparable to RT-PCR</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indonesia’s official death reports are questionable too. <a href="https://laporcovid19.org">LaporCovid-19</a>, an independent website established to provide accurate information about the pandemic, noted a discrepancy between the 48,477 COVID-related deaths reported by the government in May and its own total of 50,729. It reached its tally by simply adding the death tolls of <a href="https://laporcovid19.org/post/data-warga-diduga-bocor-data-covid-19-disembunyikan">each province</a> – and that was with out-of-date data from six provinces and none from Papua.</p>
<p>In fact, researchers and journalists have long pointed to significant “<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm">excess deaths</a>” as evidence of significant under-reporting of COVID fatalities in Indonesia. </p>
<p>Excess deaths refer to the number of deaths occurring beyond what would be expected in a normal year. One <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.14.20248159v1">study</a> found a 61% increase in excess deaths in Indonesia in 2020 compared with the previous five years, which was not reflected in the official data.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Indonesia's COVID deaths surged in January" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403968/original/file-20210602-27-l6czjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indonesia’s COVID deaths surged in late January, but may be on the rise again.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Achmad Ibrahim/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Concerns of a super-spreader event</h2>
<p>But even on the clearly inadequate official data available, COVID case numbers are now on the rise. Indonesia <a href="https://covid19.who.int/region/searo/country/id">reported</a> 2,385 new cases on May 15. Two weeks later, daily cases had more than doubled to 6,565.</p>
<p>If numbers keep growing at this rate, Indonesia’s health system will not be able to cope. When daily cases peaked earlier this year at 10,000-14,000 new cases per day (officially), Jakarta’s hospitals were overwhelmed and COVID patients were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/26/covid-patients-turned-away-as-hospitals-in-indonesia-face-collapse">turned away</a>.</p>
<p>And there is a real possibility the numbers will get this high again — maybe even worse. </p>
<p>Countries in the region that had managed the pandemic well through 2020, such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are now experiencing deadly third and fourth waves. In early May, Indonesian authorities also reported cases of the UK variant (B.1.1.7), South African variant (B.1.351) and Indian variant (B.1.617.2), which are more contagious than the original strain. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-is-forcing-millions-of-girls-out-of-school-in-south-east-asia-and-the-pacific-157230">COVID is forcing millions of girls out of school in South-east Asia and the Pacific</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To make matters worse, Indonesia just experienced a national super-spreader event: Eid al-Fitr, the most important Islamic holiday. </p>
<p>Traditionally, millions of Muslims <a href="https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/11th-uncsgn-docs/The%20Role%20of%20Toponymy_Indonesia.pdf">return to their home villages</a> to see family and friends during this time — a mass event known as <em>mudik</em>. Fearing a repeat of last year, when daily cases <a href="https://setkab.go.id/en/press-statement-of-president-of-the-republic-of-indonesia-on-the-ban-of-this-years-mudik-friday-16-april-2021/">shot up by 93%</a> after <em>mudik</em>, the government banned travel this year — the second time it has tried to halt <em>mudik</em>. </p>
<p>But, as is so often the case in Indonesia, enforcement was badly lacking, and <em>mudik</em> rolled on, even if numbers were down. WhatsApp groups were ablaze with <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2021/05/06/bribes-lies-and-black-sticky-rice-indonesians-outsmart-mudik-ban.html">ways to avoid</a> police checkpoints.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1390651083580755971"}"></div></p>
<p>Over the past fortnight, Indonesians have been gradually returning to the cities, fuelling concerns of a major outbreak. </p>
<p>This is happening in next-door Malaysia, where the government has announced a post-Eid <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/covid-19-malaysia-third-lockdown-more-cases-empty-streets-malls-14927082">total lockdown</a> of the entire country as consecutive days of record infections catapulted its total caseload above 550,000.</p>
<p>In Vietnam, as well, the government has just <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/31/vietnam-hybrid-coronavirus-variant-ho-chi-minh-city-restrictions/">imposed</a> a two-week lockdown on the largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, with plans to test all 9 million residents.</p>
<p>But in Indonesia, with more than eight times the population of Malaysia and a far weaker health care system, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-new-normal-might-fail-in-indonesia-and-how-to-fix-it-140798">business as usual, or what the government calls the “new normal”</a>. </p>
<p>The government recently expanded its <a href="https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/482656/indonesia-officials-expand-and-extend-covid-19-restrictions-nationwide-through-june-14-update-73">social restrictions</a> nationwide through June 14, requiring schools to shut, shops and restaurants to close by a certain time each night, and limits on employees allowed in offices. However, a more robust lockdown still appears only a remote possibility.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-new-normal-might-fail-in-indonesia-and-how-to-fix-it-140798">Why a 'new normal' might fail in Indonesia and how to fix it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Vaccine rollout offers some hope</h2>
<p>Indonesia’s vaccine rollout may offer a slim ray of hope. More than 27 million vaccine doses have <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/indonesia">now been delivered</a> and nearly 4% of Indonesia’s population (10 million of 270 million) has been fully vaccinated, compared with 3.6% in Malaysia, 2.7% in Japan and a woeful 2% in Australia.</p>
<p>Indonesia’s vaccine program began in January with a combination of AstraZeneca, procured through the World Health Organization’s COVAX scheme, and the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccines. But AstraZeneca shortages exacerbated by the recent COVID surge in India have led to <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-satisfied-with-effectiveness-of-chinese-covid-19-14608920">greater reliance on China</a>. </p>
<p>In April, the Indonesian government approved Sinopharm for <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1851441/world">emergency use</a>, and supplies of the China’s CanSino and the Russian Sputnik V vaccines are on the way. </p>
<p>There are concerns about the efficacy of these vaccines, but most Indonesians would agree they are better than nothing.</p>
<p>A two-track vaccination system has <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/indonesia-vaccination-programme-rate-covid-19-challenges-gotong-14881924">now been developed</a>. The government is offering Sinovac or AstraZeneca vaccines free to health workers, senior citizens and public servants, and for a fee to anyone else. </p>
<p>At the same time, a program self-funded by companies is offering their employees Sinopharm vaccines supplied by the government.</p>
<p>This two-pronged approach will help increase vaccination numbers, but only a little. The corporate program is costly, and most medium-to-small enterprises — which represent <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-jakarta/documents/publication/wcms_695134.pdf">99% of businesses</a> in Indonesia — simply can’t afford it. </p>
<p>And the young, poor and unemployed — a fast-growing group as the economy continues to slide – have little hope of getting a jab.</p>
<h2>Scandals and data leaks</h2>
<p>Price-gouging, corruption and other crimes are only make things worse. Several civil servants were <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134658/chinese-vaccines-meant-indonesian-prison-stolen-and-sold-public">arrested</a> last month, for example, for allegedly stealing Sinovac vaccines intended for a prison, to sell to the public. </p>
<p>Worse still, former social affairs minister Juliari Batubara <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/6/indonesia-juliari-batubara-named-suspect-in-covid-19-graft-case">stands accused</a> of taking 17 billion rupiah (A$1.5 million) in bribes related to the distribution of COVID-19 aid for the poor. </p>
<hr>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesias-coronavirus-fatalities-are-the-highest-in-southeast-asia-so-why-is-jokowi-rushing-to-get-back-to-business-144059">Indonesia's coronavirus fatalities are the highest in Southeast Asia. So, why is Jokowi rushing to get back to business?</a>
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<p>And, most recently, the social security data of 279 million Indonesians — both alive and dead — is believed to have been <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/05/23/alleged-breach-of-bpjs-data-points-to-indonesias-weak-data-protection-experts.html">leaked</a> and sold on the dark web. </p>
<p>Pandemic fatigue has well and truly set in, and these high-profile scandals threaten to further deepen distrust between Indonesians and the government. The country will not fare well if predictions of an even bigger outbreak fuelled by new variants of the virus come true. </p>
<p>If this happens, the government will may well find itself facing a looming health catastrophe, rising social unrest and perhaps serious political tensions, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Lindsey has received funding from Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Max Walden is a PhD Candidate under the Australian Research Council-funded project "Indonesia's refugee policies: responsibility, security and regionalism".</span></em></p>New cases have more than doubled in the past two weeks, sparking concerns that last month’s Eid holiday could have been a super-spreader event.Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, The University of MelbourneMax Walden, PhD Candidate at Melbourne Law School, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1612902021-05-28T12:17:28Z2021-05-28T12:17:28ZJerusalem: eyewitness account from a divided city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402651/original/file-20210525-15-vxu9fr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C1198%2C901&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traditional Ramadan meeting place: Jerusalem's Damascus Gate, after police removed barriers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ade Ruished</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not long after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force on Friday May 21, members of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) entered the al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/may/21/palestinians-and-israeli-police-clash-at-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque-hours-after-gaza-truce-video">reportedly using teargas and stun grenades</a> to disperse Muslims praying there. </p>
<p>Over the weekend, IDF personnel escorted Jewish visitors to Temple Mount, which occupies the same site as al-Aqsa and holds special religious significance as the site of the biblical temple. The waqf, or Islamic authority that controls the site, said the IDF had cleared young Palestinians from the site and barred entry to any Muslims under the age of 45. It was reported that a <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-aqsa-police-raid-ceasefire">small number of Muslim protesters were detained</a>. Details remain unclear.</p>
<p>The incidents <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/21/middleeast/israel-palestinian-conflict-friday-intl/index.html">have been reported</a> as attempts at provocation. Over the years, al-Aqsa mosque has been a flashpoint for violence between Israelis and Palestinians and was the site of the outbreak of the second intifada uprising in 2000. This occurred after Ariel Sharon – the then prime minister of Israel – visited the site with a heavily armed defence-force escort, not long after peace talks at Camp David with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had failed. The five-year uprising cost an estimated 3,000 Palestinian lives. </p>
<p>As a PhD researcher in political science, I have been in East Jerusalem interviewing people and trying to understand various methods of control used by the Israeli government for regulating the Palestinian population in the city. I have been observing the actions of young Palestinian activists and have been impressed by the ways in which many have avoided turning to violence, instead using peaceful forms of protest to make their point to the watching world media.</p>
<p>This was manifested in the early days of Ramadan (April 13 to May 12) when Israeli border police installed metal barricades at <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/jerusalem-damascus-gate-palestine-beacon-hope">Damascus Gate Square</a>. These gates restricted people’s movement and made it impossible for local street sellers to carry on their business. It also prevented Palestinians from sitting on the steps in the square itself, which is a traditional meeting place after evening prayers during Ramadan.</p>
<p>So young Palestinian activists gathered in crowds in and around the square. As I watched, young activists faced off against Israeli police stationed at the barricades, singing songs and performing gymnastic exercises. Looking on, the Israeli police seemed unprepared. Neither their kit nor their rules of engagement equipped them for dealing with this form of peaceful protest.</p>
<p>So they used teargas and stun grenades to clear the areas. They also sprayed the demonstrators with foul chemically synthesised water, which leaves an unpleasant smell in peoples’ clothing that is hard to remove. They used mounted police to chase down, intimidate and disperse young protesters. I watched this happen from the balcony of a nearby restaurant whose owner is a friend of mine. Another friend, who was among the protesters, was sprayed with the foul water.</p>
<p>Protesters kept regrouping and returning. For two weeks they carried on with these demonstrations. On April 26, the Israeli authorities gave in to pressure and <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/palestinians-remove-barricades-near-jerusalems-damascus-gate">removed the barriers</a>, allowing Palestinians to return to their traditional gatherings in the few days left of the holy month.</p>
<h2>Challenging coercive eviction</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, May 17, the date allocated by the Israeli District Court for settlers to evict and replace several Palestinian families from their homes at the nearby neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, was getting ever closer. Israeli authorities have misleadingly described this as a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-15/palestinian-families-living-in-sheikh-jarrah/100133672">real estate dispute</a>”. </p>
<p>But it is widely viewed among Palestinians as a deliberate act of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/17/palestinians-sheikh-jarrah-jerusalem-city-identity">ethnic cleansing</a>” to change the demographic of this traditionally Muslim Arab neighbourhood. Settlers had been reportedly intimidating and attacking the families and demonstrators, often <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-forces-violently-suppress-protests-in-sheikh-jarrah-videos/">with the support of Israeli security forces</a>.</p>
<p>Settlers reportedly resorted to both <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/ben-gvir-moves-his-office-to-sheikh-jarrah-amid-tensions-667447">legal and violent extra-legal means</a>, for example, spraying pepper at demonstrators preparing for iftar, the Ramadan breakfast meal. Once again, Palestinian activists who gathered to offer support to families slated for eviction, avoided violence, dancing the dabke and singing patriotic songs.</p>
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<p>These activists also used social media well, regularly posting details and information on Twitter – see the hashtag #SaveSheikhJarrah – as well as Facebook and TikTok to expose aggression by settlers and explain the legal issues behind the attempted evictions. </p>
<p>As a result of the global attention focused on the eviction attempts and the level of support for the Palestinian families under threat, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the eviction proceedings in the supreme court to be frozen on May 9.</p>
<h2>Avoiding violence</h2>
<p>Similarly, Israeli authorities realised that routing the “flag march” through the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem via the Damascus Gate against a background of such tension risked further violence and condemnation from the watching world. So the march <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-change-route-of-flag-march-through-old-city-as-jerusalem-simmers/">was rerouted</a> to pass through the Jaffa Gate instead of Damascus Gate, keeping marchers closer to West Jerusalem, almost on the 1967 border line. </p>
<p>It seems that these peaceful demonstrations were at least part of the reason that an explosion of violence was mostly avoided in Jerusalem at this time. I like to think of it as the “Jerusalem spring”.</p>
<p>But Israeli national politics suddenly reared its ugly head. Netanyahu was realising that after the March 23 election, he would be unable to form a government. Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, had asked opposition politician Yair Lapid to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/05/israeli-opposition-leader-yair-lapid-tasked-with-forming-a-government">form a coalition</a> with the defence minister, Naftali Bennett, which would have meant Netanyahu losing power. </p>
<p>Against this background, Israeli police <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/10/dozens-injured-in-clashes-over-israeli-settlements-ahead-of-jerusalem-day-march">raided al-Aqsa mosque</a>. There have been reports of retaliatory violence by Muslims in the mosque, including the throwing of petrol bombs by young activists. But I was there that day and saw nothing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jerusalem-the-politics-behind-the-latest-explosion-of-violence-in-the-holy-city-160647">Jerusalem: the politics behind the latest explosion of violence in the Holy City</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, Hamas fighters started to launch missiles into Israel from Gaza, prompting massive Israeli retaliation. For 11 days, the world’s attention was on the tiny Palestinian enclave where 2 million people were under almost constant bombardment from Israeli airstrikes. </p>
<p>But on May 18, Palestinians in East Jerusalem <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/arabs-strike-across-israel-as-palestinians-declare-day-of-rage/">staged a one-day strike</a>. Again, this was peaceful. Creative protests during the strike included organising chess competitions in the street outside the homes of families threatened with eviction.</p>
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<p>After global pressure, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire on May 21. As we now know, within hours Israeli security forces had entered al-Aqsa and used force to disperse people praying. The provocation continues, but we can only hope that peaceful demonstrations will prevail and avoid another outbreak of violent conflict in this divided city.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adel Ruished does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Watching young Palestinian activists, I was impressed at how they kept their cool under pressure.Adel Ruished, PhD Researcher in Politics, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1590332021-05-19T15:12:24Z2021-05-19T15:12:24ZWomen negotiators in Afghan/Taliban peace talks could spur global change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401356/original/file-20210518-13-7zrd4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C8%2C5340%2C3431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this March 2019 photo, Afghan artists work on a barrier wall of the Ministry of Women's Affairs marking International Women's Day, in Kabul, Afghanistan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women, as much as any other demographic in Afghanistan, have a pressing interest in ensuring a just and sustainable peace in their country after fighting hard for their rights for the past 20 years. </p>
<p>And yet there are just <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/10/7/who-are-the-afghan-women-negotiating-peace-with-taliban">four female government negotiators</a> representing women’s interests involved <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/14/taliban-afghanistan-government-negotiators-meet-in-qatar">in the current peace talks</a> taking place in Doha, Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government <a href="https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-172242">and in upcoming talks in Istanbul.</a></p>
<p>This illustrates a brazen disregard for the rights of women and marginalized communities, especially since the Taliban and its various satellite factions are routinely carrying out targeted killings of women, political opponents and minorities, according to a recent <a href="https://unama.unmissions.org/protection-of-civilians-reports">United Nations report</a>.</p>
<p>The UN says in the first three months of this year, there were 573 civilians killed and 1,210 wounded in armed conflict in Afghanistan, marking a 29 per cent increase over the same period in 2020. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/the-taliban-took-years-of-my-life-the-afghan-women-living-in-the-shadow-of-war">Taliban ideology remains brutally misogynistic</a>. The Taliban refuses to concede the humanity of those with whom they disagree. As they unleash a campaign of violence and terror, constitutional rights are threatened and undermined on a daily basis, and the hard-won gains Afghan women have made over the past two decades are in danger of being lost.</p>
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<img alt="Taliban leaders walk though a lobby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C282%2C3500%2C2310&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401340/original/file-20210518-19-cf2wtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, centre, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for attending an international peace conference in Moscow in March 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)</span></span>
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<p>Yet women have remained fearless in their defence of these gains. They are at the negotiating table in Doha, and they’ll soon be in Istanbul, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-political-settlement-female-participation-negotiators/">insisting on being included and heard</a>. Women’s rights advocates in Afghanistan are determined to preserve their constitutional rights and status as guaranteed by the current constitution, <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004.pdf?lang=en">which came into force in 2004</a>.</p>
<h2>Constitutions are key</h2>
<p>Constitutions are fundamentally important and play a significant role in processes of change. They set out how power is distributed, and its limits. The recognition of women’s rights and interests at the constitutional level therefore carries great weight. It <a href="https://constitutions.unwomen.org/-/media/files/un%20women/gecd/datasource/resources/abc%20for%20a%20gender%20sensitive%20constitution.pdf?la=en&vs=330">gives women a position from which to challenge power hierarchies and to reshape institutional structures</a> in a more inclusive manner for women and other marginalized groups.</p>
<p>While much attention is paid to the guarantees of rights in constitutions, equally important are provisions that set out the structure of state institutions that ensure women’s political participation and representation. </p>
<p>It’s therefore been critical that the post-conflict peace process has included women. Beyond the obvious benefits of the participation of all citizens in the peace process and constitution-making, the impact the war has had on women and their families in particular makes their participation integral.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-peace-agreement-in-afghanistan-wont-last-if-there-are-no-women-at-the-table-111820">A peace agreement in Afghanistan won't last if there are no women at the table</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.wluml.org/">Women Living Under Muslim Laws</a>, a global feminist research network for gender equality, has been organizing in support of Afghan women’s demands throughout the peace process via a campaign called <a href="https://www.wluml.org/afghancampign/">No Peace Without Women’s Rights in Afghanistan</a>.</p>
<p>This campaign engages global solidarity networks to support Afghan civil society leaders, to elevate Afghan women’s voices, to bridge formal and grassroots peace efforts and to prevent the targeted attacks and killings of Afghan women. </p>
<h2>Critical juncture</h2>
<p>The peace process in Afghanistan is at a critical juncture. At the end of April 2021, <a href="https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-the-extended-troika-on-peaceful-settlement-in-afghanistan/">the governments of the United States, Russia, China and Pakistan met with the negotiating team of the Afghan government and the Taliban</a> in Doha to support intra-Afghan negotiations.</p>
<p>The U.S. is eager to leave Afghanistan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/world/europe/us-withdrawal-afghanistan-blast.html">with American troops already beginning to pull out and military bases closing</a>. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/28/990160846/u-s-unconditional-withdrawal-rattles-afghanistans-shaky-peace-talks">The Taliban has seized upon this moment</a> to dictate the terms of the negotiations, the boundaries of the peace process and future arrangements. </p>
<p>Demonstrating their power, the <a href="https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-171980">Taliban has been reluctant</a> to participate in the upcoming Istanbul talks, first dropping out until recently agreeing to attend. Recent events in Afghanistan, notably the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/days-after-bombing-afghans-despair-three-day-limit-ceasefire-2021-05-12/">bombing of a school and a mosque during the Eid ceasefire</a> by extremist groups, including ISIS, have provided the impetus for the Taliban to reassert its position as the legitimate victor in the war with the U.S. and return to the negotiation table.</p>
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<img alt="Schoolgirls sit inside a classroom with bouquets of flowers on empty desks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401412/original/file-20210518-17-1ce3872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Schoolgirls sit inside a classroom with bouquets of flowers on empty desks as a tribute to the dozens killed in the May 8 bombing of the Syed Al-Shahda girls school, in Kabul, Afghanistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html">The Sept. 11, 2021</a> deadline for an unconditional, full U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has caused fear and apprehension, especially among women’s rights advocates. Together with human rights advocates, the Women Living Under Muslim Laws Network is concerned that in the political bargaining process between the exiting U.S. and the Taliban, women’s interests will be sacrificed. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/14/afghan-women-fear-the-return-of-the-taliban">There is a very real fear that gains made in areas of women’s education, employment and political participation will be rolled back.</a></p>
<p>That must not happen. Without women’s inclusion and meaningful participation, any peace agreement will lack legitimacy. </p>
<p>The international community’s emphasis on safeguarding the role of legitimate government and Afghanistan’s constitution is crucial. Ensuring basic rights for all Afghan citizens is critical to developing trust in dialogue and fostering a conciliatory environment for peace talks. </p>
<p>Women’s rights advocates remain hopeful that the international community will continue to support human rights, gender equality and democratic governance. Afghanistan deserves a sustainable peace premised on respect for the human rights of all its citizens, regardless of religion, gender or ethnicity. Peace in Afghanistan and the inclusion of women will resonate across the region and around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159033/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vrinda Narain does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Without women’s inclusion and meaningful participation, any peace agreement between Afghanistan and the Taliban will lack legitimacy.Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism; Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1599942021-05-11T03:35:25Z2021-05-11T03:35:25ZFor Muslim refugees in immigration detention, another sombre, isolated Eid holiday<p>Around Australia, Muslims are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr – “<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-eid-celebrated-twice-a-year-and-how-has-coronavirus-changed-the-festival-143647">the feast of breaking the fast</a>” that marks the end of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>. </p>
<p>Eid <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/5/22/when-is-eid-al-fitr-2020-everything-you-need-to-know">usually</a> involves dawn prayers and gatherings to share food and gifts. Family and community are central to these celebrations. This Eid will be particularly significant for many in the Islamic faith, as COVID-19 <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australian-muslims-celebrate-a-very-different-eid-this-weekend">curtailed last year’s festivities</a>. </p>
<p>Yet for Muslim refugees and asylum seekers in Australian immigration detention facilities, observances will be muted. </p>
<h2>Escalating restrictions on visitors</h2>
<p>This is not a new phenomenon. Since 2015, I have conducted over 70 interviews with regular visitors to Australian detention facilities. Long before COVID-19, restrictive visiting rules were separating detainees from their communities of support. </p>
<p>Visitors have been required to submit complex online applications at least one week before each visit. Group visits have required additional approvals and taken weeks to organise. Friends and family members with unpredictable work schedules, poor digital literacy or limited English have struggled to visit detention at all. </p>
<p>Blanket bans on fresh food have also been enforced, and detainees and visitors have been required to sit in assigned chairs under constant surveillance. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-need-protection-from-coronavirus-too-and-must-be-released-136961">Refugees need protection from coronavirus too, and must be released</a>
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<p>These restrictions were introduced years before the pandemic - <a href="https://www.abf.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/border-protection/immigration-detention/visit-detention/outside-food-policy">purportedly</a> to ensure the safety and security of detention spaces by minimising risks such as food poisoning. </p>
<p>During the pandemic, detainee isolation has become even more pronounced. <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahryan/visits-banned-immigration-detention-coronavirus-covid19">Visits were banned altogether</a> for much of last year, and detainees went months without seeing friends and family members. </p>
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<p>Complete visitor bans have now been lifted, but strict <a href="https://www.abf.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/border-protection/immigration-detention/visit-detention">COVID-19 rules</a> remain in place. </p>
<p>Group visits are still prohibited and overall visitor numbers are capped. Once these spaces fill up, all other visitation requests are rejected. Food of all kinds is banned, and visitors must sit in designated seats and remain physically distanced from their loved ones.</p>
<p>For Muslim detainees, these restrictions will make for a sombre Eid. Christian detainees faced similar constraints this Easter, as did families wishing to celebrate Mother’s Day last weekend. </p>
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<h2>A celebratory atmosphere</h2>
<p>Australia’s detention system has not always been this way. As recently as the mid-2010s, communal celebrations were a regular occurrence in detention. Visitors were permitted to bring fresh food to their visits and would often prepare special meals to mark important occasions. </p>
<p>Moina*, one of my interviewees in Melbourne, for example, would bake <a href="https://www.mamamia.com.au/womens-weekly-birthday-cakes/">Women’s Weekly-style cakes</a> for detained children’s birthdays and make homemade meals from the detainees’ countries of origin. </p>
<p>During visits, detainees and visitors would share food and laughter. Detainees were free to move between tables, making their “guests” feel welcome and offering tea and coffee. </p>
<p>Larger festivities organised by community volunteers were sometimes permitted. As Melbourne volunteer Hannah* explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We would organise Christmas, Eid parties, circus performances, bands. There was a kind of community liaison person. I used to manage an annual Christmas shoebox appeal […] I’d get kids in our community to decorate shoeboxes and then adults would buy gifts and we would fill them all and then go in there with the Sisters of Brigidine who would do the food for lunch.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Darwin interviewees recalled visiting detention centres on Mother’s Day with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dassanNT/photos/a.283227058502650/479466015545419/?type=3&theater">armfuls of flowers</a> for the female detainees. </p>
<p>These celebrations served myriad functions. They brought an element of normality to visits, allowing detainees to maintain relationships with their community-based family and friends. They also allowed members of the Australian community to show their support to people who were seeking protection here. And they helped detainees mark important religious, cultural and personal events.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-are-crying-and-begging-the-human-cost-of-forced-relocations-in-immigration-detention-132193">'People are crying and begging': the human cost of forced relocations in immigration detention</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, these occasions provided a brief respite from the anguish and isolation of detention life. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/self-harm-in-immigration-detention-has-risen-sharply-here-are-6-ways-to-address-this-health-crisis-146679">Mental illness and self-harm</a> are endemic in detention. Measures that build connections and combat despair are of critical importance. </p>
<p>As ex-detainee Farhad Bandesh <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3177196185717992&id=1114421918662106&__tn__=-R">shared on Facebook</a>, refugees find hope and strength in “their families, friends and the people in community”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1264631407650803712"}"></div></p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p><a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-018-1945-y">Decades of research</a> attests that immigration detention causes profound harm. Limiting access to culture and community only <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2020/03/30/covid-19-in-immigration-detention/">compounds people’s anguish</a>. </p>
<p>Stories like Moina’s show immigration detention does not have to be as harsh as it has become. Turning these centres into <a href="https://academic.oup.com/rsq/article-abstract/37/3/279/5048429">quasi-prisons</a> has been a choice: one that could and should be unmade. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1374572316538015751"}"></div></p>
<p>If authorities are sincere that they want to make detention safer, a dual approach is necessary. </p>
<p>First, refugees and asylum seekers can — and should — be released into the community immediately. Detention should <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/13-05-2020-unodc-who-unaids-and-ohchr-joint-statement-on-covid-19-in-prisons-and-other-closed-settings">only be used as a short-term measure and last resort</a>. </p>
<p>Second, restrictions that have increased the isolation of detention need to be reversed. Incarceration is inherently distressing; it should not be made more painful by harsh institutional rules. </p>
<p>This is not to suggest reversing these escalations would make detention humane. It would not. Restrictions on visitors are just one of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1440783318796301">many deprivations</a> that detainees experience. </p>
<p>But these refugees and asylum seekers have committed no crime. At the very least, they deserve to celebrate special occasions like the rest of us: in freedom and safety, surrounded by the people they love. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The names of interviewees have been changed to protect their identities.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship and grants from the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney. Michelle Peterie has received funding from the Australian Research Council for other research projects.</span></em></p>Group visits and food are prohibited, and visitors must sit in designated chairs apart from their loved ones. Celebrating holidays in detention didn’t used to be like this.Michelle Peterie, Research Fellow, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1436472020-07-30T12:10:23Z2020-07-30T12:10:23ZWhy is Eid celebrated twice a year and how has coronavirus changed the festival?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350236/original/file-20200729-29-pu6dip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=411%2C37%2C4580%2C3255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Worshippers wearing protective face masks and gloves offer Eid al-Fitr prayers in Teheran.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Iran-Virus-Outbreak-Ramadan-Holiday-Lockdown/fd5f9fa5779b4aefb7784268357b2ae5/37/0">AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: At sundown on July 30, Muslims all over the world celebrated one of the principal festivals, Eid al-Adha. Earlier in May, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr. Ken Chitwood, a scholar of global Islam, explains the two Islamic festivals.</em></p>
<h2>1. What is Eid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid literally means a “festival” or “feast” in Arabic</a>. Eid is celebrated twice a year as Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr. </p>
<h2>2. Why is it celebrated twice a year?</h2>
<p>The two Eids recognize, celebrate and recall two distinct events that are significant to the story of the Islamic faith. </p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr means “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">the feast of breaking the fast</a>.” The fast, in this instance, is that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>, the holy month observed by Muslims, which recalls the revealing of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. </p>
<p>Eid celebrations can last up to three days. In many countries with large Muslim populations, it is a national holiday. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. In Turkey and in places that were once part of the Ottoman-Turkish empire such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, it is also known as the “<a href="http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1342?_hi=0&_pos=4734">Lesser Bayram</a>,” meaning “lesser festival” in Turkish. </p>
<p>The other festival, Eid al-Adha, is the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">feast of the sacrifice</a>.” It commemorates the end of hajj, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime, but only for those with means.</p>
<p>Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith. A similar story is told of Abraham and Isaac, as they were known, in the Hebrew Torah and Christian Old Testament. As narrated in the Quran, it describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed. </p>
<p>But, just as Ibrahim attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. This story has institutionalized the practice of sacrifice in Islam and continues to be commemorated each year.</p>
<p>During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal – usually a sheep, goat or cow – to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God. Eid al-Adha is also known as the “<a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e740?_hi=0&_pos=2592">Greater Bayram</a>.” </p>
<h2>3. When are they celebrated?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Adha is celebrated on the <a href="https://www.oupjapan.co.jp/en/node/2191">10th day of the 12th and final month in the Islamic calendar</a>.</p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ry_aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=islam+the+straight+path+eid+esposito&source=bl&ots=OpTvV-P-BD&sig=vO86ofKfVTFj4ZZdz2iCg2-s1P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR-qaVlbzVAhWHs1QKHW53AiQQ6AEIWTAM#v=onepage&q=islam%20the%20straight%20path%20eid%20esposito&f=false">first day of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2">Islamic calendar</a> is a lunar calendar and dates are calculated based on lunar phases. Due to this, the Islamic calendar year is shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar year by 10 to 12 days. </p>
<p>Thus, Ramadan and Eid “rotate” through the Gregorian calendar and can be celebrated during different seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. In 2019, for example, Eid al-Fitr was celebrated in the U.S. on June 4. In 2020, the date for Eid al-Fitr was 24 May. For Eid al-Adha, the date this year is July 31, beginning at sundown on July 30. In 2019, it fell on August 11. </p>
<h2>4. What customs are common during the two Eids?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr features two to three days of celebrations that include <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">special prayers</a>. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid.” Gifts are given out to the poor before the morning prayers. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive differences and let go of grudges. There are a multitude of other practices that vary from country to country. </p>
<p>On Eid al-Adha, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Hajj.html?id=EK5MqskDYC0C">pilgrims in Mecca reenact Ibrahim’s rejection</a> of Satan’s temptation. During the pilgrimage, Muslims cast stones at a pillar, which represents Satan. In remembrance of how Ibrahim was given a ram to sacrifice, they proceed to sacrifice animals.</p>
<p>Those unable to go on the pilgrimage <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">visit mosques and even family gravesites.</a></p>
<h2>5. What is the spiritual meaning of sacrifice during Eid al-Adha?</h2>
<p>The sacrifice represents how, like Ibrahim, pilgrims and practicing Muslims worldwide are willing to give up <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L31e4m2GUTwC&source=gbs_similarbooks">even their most precious possessions</a>. </p>
<p>Charity to the poor is a highly emphasized value in Islam. <a href="http://quranexplorer.com">The Quran says</a>, “Believe in Allah and his messenger, and give charity out of the (substance) that Allah has made you heirs of. For those of you who believe and give charity – for them is a great reward.” </p>
<p>So, as part of this practice, only around a third of the meat is consumed by the family or group of friends; the rest is given to the poor and needy. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the sacrifice of animals is carried out <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/introduction-to-islam-9780190467487?cc=us&lang=en&">according to specific instructions</a>. This is all part of the religious and moral obligation of Muslims. </p>
<h2>6. What are some of the modern-day challenges?</h2>
<p>With more than 2 million visitors normally arriving in Mecca for hajj, the pilgrimage often presents a <a href="https://tradearabia.com/index.php?/news/MISC_290820.html">logistical challenge</a> for countries providing meat for the sacrifice. Saudi authorities strive to <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/flash-freezing-takes-care-of-surplus-meat-from-haj-sacrifice-1.310668">find alternative methods</a> of preserving, distributing and dealing with the vast amount of meat that comes from the animal sacrifices. </p>
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<p>The coronavirus pandemic has led to a new set of challenges to the celebrations in 2020. Most of all, the hajj pilgrimage has been limited to <a href="https://theconversation.com/hajj-cancellation-due-to-coronavirus-is-not-the-first-time-plague-has-disrupted-this-muslim-pilgrimage-135900">only those Muslims residing in Saudi Arabia</a>. Additionally, many families are unable to get together for Eid celebrations, due to restrictions on travel and social distancing rules. </p>
<p>Leaders around the world have imposed restrictions on religious gatherings. In Saudi Arabia, for example <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/muslims-celebrating-eid-al-adha-coronavirus-200727170212075.html">people are being asked to hold Eid prayers inside mosques</a>, rather than outside, which is customary. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/87758/praying-eid-prayer-at-home-due-to-covid-19coronavirus-pandemic">the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America issued a fatwa</a> – a formal ruling on a point of Islamic law – dictating that praying be done at home this Eid.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization even issued guidelines for a “<a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:IaWfNtco6OQJ:https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1288874/retrieve%20&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b-d">Safe Eid</a> addressing social distancing at prayer and public gatherings. It also included best practices for sacrifices and distribution of charity to the poor. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">of a piece first published</a> on August 28, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143647/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood receives funding from the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. </span></em></p>Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, beginning at sundown on July 30, but the coronavirus has changed many things.Ken Chitwood, Lecturer, Concordia College New York | Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Concordia College New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1369412020-05-28T19:59:29Z2020-05-28T19:59:29ZPakistan’s religious leaders defied coronavirus mosque restrictions then compromised<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336551/original/file-20200520-152302-16wgbcx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=444%2C0%2C2187%2C1955&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man marks places in a mosque for worshippers to maintain distance during prayers after the government relaxed the weeks-long lockdown that was enforced to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in Peshawar, Pakistan. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The outbreak of COVID-19 has left governments scrambling for resources and forcing them to take measures to contain its growth. The Pakistani government has also taken such steps, including instituting <a href="https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/pakistan-extends-lockdown-chinese-army-doctors-arrive-help-combat-virus">partial lockdowns</a>, cancelling <a href="https://www.newsweekpakistan.com/pakistan-extends-till-may-15-ban-on-international-flights/">international flights</a> and <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/pakistan-limits-flights-shuts-borders-and-schools-over-coronavirus">closing schools</a>. </p>
<p>Although these measures are controversial, it is the government’s decision to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/17/837007264/pakistan-limits-worshippers-at-mosques-many-worshippers-are-defiant">restrict access to mosques</a> that has attracted outsized attention and intense debate.</p>
<p>The state’s decision to limit mosque gatherings to no more than five people provoked strong reactions from several leading ulema (religious leaders and scholars) in Pakistan. Many were <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/pakistanis-gather-friday-prayers-defying-coronavirus-advisory-200417104036221.html">initially defiant</a>, but later negotiated with the government. </p>
<p>The negotiations and ensuing compromise between the ulema and Pakistani government authorities are signs of the tensions that exist between Islamist political thinking (presented and argued in theological language) and secularized reasoning that doesn’t rely on otherwordly claims to explain a phenomenon. What the ulema or other Islamists of different stripes aspire to (notwithstanding differences in their method) is a state and society ordered around God’s law.</p>
<p>These negotiations between the ulema and the government authorities led to the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/24/pakistan-ramadan-coronavirus-pandemic-mosques/">easing of restrictions</a>, allowing mosques to remain open if they implemented social-distancing measures. The ulema have since <a href="https://nation.com.pk/21-Apr-2020/ulema-back-pm-s-lockdown-strategy">assured the state that they are maintaining these rules</a>.</p>
<h2>Reaction and counter-reaction</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/644708-lockdown-rejected-ulema-announce-congregational-prayers-taraveeh">initial reaction</a> of the ulema to the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-and-islam-pakistani-clerics-refuse-to-shut-down-mosques/a-52969639">state’s decision</a> and the ensuing compromise generated widespread <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1553101">debate</a> and <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/amid-covid-19-pakistan-launches-an-islam-friendly-action-plan-to-keep-mosques-open/">disapproval</a>. But the compromise is also supported by the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-pakistan-congregat/god-is-with-us-many-muslims-in-pakistan-flout-the-coronavirus-ban-in-mosques-idUSKCN21V0T4">followers of these leaders</a>. </p>
<p>Pakistan’s leading English daily, <em>Dawn</em>, wrote a scathing <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1551497/reverse-the-decision">editorial</a>, noting that the ulema were being unreasonable in their insistence to keep the mosques open.</p>
<p>Some have contended that the ulema’s objection has less to do with theological injunctions and more to do with the ulema’s fear of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/asia/pakistan-coronavirus-ramadan.html">dwindling charitable contributions</a> if the mosques remain closed. </p>
<p>Others have argued that the ulema reacted to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/23/841886317/pakistan-calls-off-limits-on-mosque-attendance-in-time-for-ramadan">protect their turf</a> when the government tried to intervene in the internal affairs of religion. </p>
<p>Historically, the state has had a hard time countering Islamists because of their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048316000031">enormous street power</a> and effectiveness as a pressure group. Since Pakistan’s independence in 1947, Islamic discourse, reasoning and cultural norms have become <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/politics-of-desecularization/98C7240B0F22D73E38760CE59013CD4B">more commonplace</a>, effectively giving more space to religious leaders, Islamist political actors and extremist groups.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336552/original/file-20200520-152292-3jndw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A family break their fast on a sidewalk after receiving free food from a nearby distribution point in Karachi, Pakistan, on May 10, 2020. Muslims across the world are observing Ramadan when the faithful refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Fareed Khan)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Theism and modern culture</h2>
<p>While the economic and political factors explain the intensity of the reaction, one element that has been ignored is the broader ideological conflict between traditional theistic thought and modern culture. </p>
<p>Commenting on the fate of traditional theism in late Victorian Britain, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Religious_Significance_of_Atheism.html?id=fpXXAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre noted</a> that secular culture, which was becoming less beholden to theism’s hegemony, created a series of crises for theism. </p>
<p>For MacIntyre, theism relied on a pre-scientific logic and rationale that its proponents conveyed in religious or transcendental language. By contrast, those who identify with secular culture makes claims in a language that is scientifically explainable. Therefore, the vocabulary used by one group is often absent in the worldview of the other. Their ways of arguing are often irreconcilable. </p>
<p>In other words, theism is challenged from the perspective of an emergent, secular culture that claims to prize reason and devalues dogma and pre-scientific, faith-based reasoning. </p>
<p>Confronted with such a crisis, theism had to respond. One response was to <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Religious_Significance_of_Atheism.html?id=fpXXAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">refuse to reformulate theism</a> in the image of modern thought. This was achieved through secluding itself from modern culture by “renouncing and denouncing contemporary secular culture as a false culture.”</p>
<p>Although theism is seldom overtly challenged in Pakistan, <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1553101">the English-speaking intelligentsia has been critical</a> of the <a href="https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/649740-">ulema’s reaction</a> to COVID-19. On the other hand, a prominent Pakistani clergyman, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rahman, went so far as to say that the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/pakistanis-gather-friday-prayers-defying-coronavirus-advisory-200417104036221.html">criticism of the ulema</a> was actually a negation of religion, prayer and an attempt to empty the mosques. </p>
<p>Muneeb-ur-Rahman and others like him were attempting to refute and reject the progressives’ claim to superiority. They refused to reconceptualize religion on the terms set by Pakistani progressive culture.</p>
<p>In my view, the fragmentation of culture in the postmodern era means that the progressives and theists have carved out subcultures for themselves, where crosscurrents and intellectual exchanges are rare. More often than not, segments from these subcultures talk at cross purposes, each guarding its own narrative. It is for this reason that the ulema are often trying to convince their own target audience, for instance, by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/asia/pakistan-coronavirus-ramadan.html">exhorting followers to attend the Friday prayer in even greater numbers</a>.</p>
<p>The ulema’s authority is derived from religion. They have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00856400903049499">sizeable influence in Pakistan</a>. The conflict between religious and non-religious authority means that, at least for traditional theists, ulema are in the right. Thus, Pakistani Muslims are quick to justify why the ulema are right because they view Islam as already under attack from more secular-minded Muslims.</p>
<p>While some argued that <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/04/16/islamic-authority-and-arab-states-in-time-of-pandemic-pub-81563">several Muslim states have closed the mosques</a> (including Saudi Arabia’s closure of the two holy mosques), both the ulema and their followers argued that banks and supermarkets are also open, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/pakistanis-gather-friday-prayers-defying-coronavirus-advisory-200417104036221.html">so why not mosques</a>? In reality, this was a way to counter the charge that their demand to open mosques was unreasonable.</p>
<p>More importantly, criticism of the ulema or self-reflection rarely germinates within the subculture of Islamist thought. The ulema and <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520083691/the-vanguard-of-the-islamic-revolution">Islamist political actors</a> are considered bastions of a yet-to-be-realized Islamic society. And in Pakistan, theism is often viewed as under threat and perpetual war <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/statement-30-prominent-pakistani-islamic-scholars-taliban-are-not-terrorists-do-not-look#_edn1">by forces of “unbelief”</a>. </p>
<p>Any open criticism of the ulema from within the rank and file is seen as undermining the larger project of further Islamizing the Pakistani state and society. Since traditional theism can condemn Pakistani liberal thought as “false culture,” it only really needs to convince or address members of its own audience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faisal Kamal receives funding from Ontario Graduate Scholarship. </span></em></p>The ulema’s reaction to the government’s decision to limit access to mosques — and the civil society’s counter-reaction — should be viewed in terms of challenges to traditional theism in modernity.Faisal Kamal, PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1391002020-05-22T18:03:51Z2020-05-22T18:03:51ZMuslim women observe Ramadan under lockdown – and some say being stuck at home for the holiday is nothing new<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336837/original/file-20200521-102671-1e3s1hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4707%2C3279&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before the midday prayer during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that ends May 27, 2020, and is celebrated this year amid pandemic. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-takes-a-video-near-dar-al-hijrah-mosque-as-people-news-photo/1210936699?adppopup=true">Stephen Maturen/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most of the world’s <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/01/the-countries-with-the-10-largest-christian-populations-and-the-10-largest-muslim-populations/">1.8 billion Muslims</a>, the holy month of Ramadan has been spent in isolation this year, with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52716535">mosques closed and communal meals canceled</a> due to the coronavirus. As <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-eid-and-how-do-muslims-celebrate-it-6-questions-answered-118146">Eid-al-fitr</a>, which marks the end of Ramadan, draws near, many Muslim communities are holding virtual events starting May 23 to commemorate this religious festival.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-significance-of-friday-prayers-in-islam-113702">Collective worship</a> is an important part of the Islamic tradition. During Ramadan, which commemorates Prophet Muhammad’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/25/11851766/what-is-ramadan-2019-start-date-muslim-islam-about">first Quranic revelation</a>, those who are able fast from before dawn to sunset, pray and break fast together with celebratory meals called iftars. For many in the faith, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/drive-thru-iftars-and-coronavirus-task-forces-how-muslims-are-observing-obligations-to-the-poor-this-ramadan-137365">shift from in-person to online Ramadan</a> has been difficult.</p>
<p>For other Muslims, though, access to <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-chicago-ramadan-women-20200424-mhufcude3zbj7jl45evobjit6q-story.html">mosques was limited</a> well before the pandemic. Women often traditionally pray in separate – and, <a href="https://twitter.com/HindMakki/status/1263355911365636096">critics say, unequal</a> – sections of mosques, and some find child care duties and cooking typically keep them at home for holidays. </p>
<p>For these women, a “remote Ramadan” may be nothing out of the ordinary.</p>
<h2>A difficult Ramadan is nothing new</h2>
<p>I study <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wearing-Niqab-Muslim-Women-Cultures/dp/1350166030/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Anna+piela&qid=1586528684&sr=8-1">Muslim women in non-Muslim majority countries</a>, and I’ve been investigating their experiences of a Ramadan celebrated almost entirely at home.</p>
<p>In collaboration with a colleague who also studies gender and Islam, <a href="https://religioznawstwo.uj.edu.pl/dr-joanna-krotofi">Joanna Krotofil</a> of Poland’s Jagiellonian University, I created an anonymous survey with <a href="https://annamagdalenapiela.wordpress.com/2020/05/22/questions-for-the-ramadan-2020-survey/">open-ended questions</a> about religious practices and rituals, self-care, relationships with family and friends and online activities this Ramadan, and distributed it to Muslim women on social media and in our professional networks. </p>
<p>We received 38 responses, from women ranging in age from 22 to 57 and representing diverse Islamic traditions – Sunni, Shia, Sufi, Orthodox and others. Most respondents live in the United States, Poland and the United Kingdom, but five come from elsewhere. </p>
<p>Like their backgrounds, the women’s perceptions of this year’s remote Ramadan varied widely. </p>
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<p>Some felt that social isolation during the holiday was entirely familiar. One woman commented she was usually “too busy with working and having a large family to be involved in the wider Muslim community.” </p>
<p>“Not much has changed,” another respondent wrote. “I am generally not attending the mosque due to feeling constrained there, as a second class citizen.” </p>
<p>Such responses reflect the lack of well-provisioned, comfortable <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11562-013-0286-3">women’s spaces in many mosques and the scarcity of women in mosque leadership positions</a>. Several “inclusive mosques” in the U.S. – including Chicago’s <a href="https://masjidalrabia.org">Al-Rabia</a> and the <a href="https://womensmosque.com">Women’s Mosque of America</a> in Los Angeles – welcome not only women but also LGBTQ Muslims into their ranks, including in leadership positions. But <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-46567505">such attitudes are rare</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, we found, many welcome this year’s shift away from traditional mosque worship and services. The sudden proliferation of virtual events actually brings more opportunities to participate. </p>
<p>That’s true for Muslims whose disabilities prevent them from leaving home, too.</p>
<p>“Often I can’t attend [events] due to disability,” one woman wrote. “Now that everything is online, it’s great.” </p>
<h2>Varied perceptions</h2>
<p>For Muslim women engaged with their faith communities, however, celebrating Ramadan during a pandemic has been frustrating. </p>
<p>“I’m used to attending my place of prayer about twice a week and having community events on top of that, so having to resort to online worship has been quite a jarring shift,” one woman wrote. </p>
<p>“It has been a struggle,” another responded, saying “it just doesn’t really feel like Ramadan.” </p>
<p>She added that holiday plans made months ahead of time are now scrambled. She’s been “rethinking everything we want to do and if it is possible during this time of quarantine.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337076/original/file-20200522-124836-1tpq6bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palestinian women prepare date and nut cookies, traditional Eid al-Fitr treats, for families in need in Gaza City, May 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palestinian-volunteer-women-prepare-date-and-nutty-cookies-news-photo/1214308179?adppopup=true">Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Trans and queer Muslim women and <a href="https://www.islamic-foundation.org.uk/UserUpload/filemanager/source/Research%20&%20Reports/Between%20Isolation%20%20Integration%20-%20LCC%20Report.pdf">converts to Islam</a> – groups that often <a href="https://www.advocate.com/current-issue/2017/1/18/queering-islam">report feeling unwelcome</a> in traditional congregations – are accustomed to challenges in celebrating their faith. </p>
<p>“Unfortunately, I’ve never had any sort of physical community to be a part of because I’m transgender,” another respondent wrote. “Online is my only means of really connecting to the Muslim community.”</p>
<p>Some are trying to create an inclusive digital community in this isolating time. One respondent said that when the pandemic struck, she created a “virtual mosque” for other queer and nonbinary Muslims, featuring daily prayer, Quran readings and classes. </p>
<p>And the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48zkiw6F6DzAcQ9Np6hBpA">#inclusiveAzaan</a> initiative, started by the group Feminist Islamic Troublemakers of North America, has been streaming the Azaan, or Adhan – the Islamic call to prayer – delivered by trans women, queer women, converts to Islam and American Sign Language speakers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337083/original/file-20200522-124822-tf5rnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Socially distant Ramadan prayers in Thailand, May 15, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslim-woman-wearing-protective-face-mask-prayers-ramadan-news-photo/1213061079?adppopup=true">Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Solitude may enhance religious experience</h2>
<p>Eid, the three-day feast celebrated by Muslims worldwide at Ramadan’s end, is usually a large, convivial celebration with mountains of food. Observing it privately <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/world/middleeast/ramadan-coronavirus-al-aqsa.html">is almost without historic precedent</a>. </p>
<p>Yet several of our respondents said solitude has enhanced their spiritual experience. </p>
<p>“I’ve discovered that I love to pray alone,” another woman said. “I can tap deep into my emotions.”</p>
<p>Several respondents found iftar, the communal supper eaten after sunset to break the Ramadan fast, more spiritually satisfying in quarantine. Ramadan is about strengthening one’s connection with God, a goal that can sometimes get lost amid all the organizing and “small talk” with strangers. </p>
<p>“Part of me does think that Ramadan is meant to be much more quiet,” one woman wrote. “Being under lockdown kind of forces that aspect of Ramadan” to the fore.</p>
<h2>Diverse perspectives</h2>
<p>The wide range of views women expressed in our survey makes sense. Islam is the world’s second largest religion, and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/31/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/">Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries</a> with varied cultural norms. </p>
<p>Our survey captures just a tiny slice of this population. But it displays Muslim communities’ divergent <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-women-in-society/">interpretations of Islamic prescriptions about women and gender relations</a>.</p>
<p>If there’s a throughline in the data, it’s that a woman’s perspective on “remote Ramadan” largely depends on her public participation in the faith during normal times. </p>
<p>Those deeply engaged with their mosques are dispirited by the loss of physical congregations. For others, Ramadan under quarantine feels like more of the same.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Piela does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A survey of Muslim women finds many are frustrated by having a Islamic holy month in quarantine. But others say a ‘remote Ramadan’ is nothing new because child care duties often keep them home anyway.Anna Piela, Visiting Scholar in Religious Studies and Gender, Northwestern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1271662020-03-09T12:22:34Z2020-03-09T12:22:34ZI was in China doing research when I saw my Uighur friends disappear<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317850/original/file-20200228-24659-1dwo7th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C31%2C5140%2C3255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Uighur woman rests near a barricaded structure and heavily armed Chinese policemen in Urumqi.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/China-Big-Brother-Moves-In/6943484fb2664a44851b01a55863a342/6/0">Ng Han Guan/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/02/asia/xinjiang-china-karakax-document-intl-hnk/">leaked</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51520622">Chinese government documents</a> reveal how <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/world/asia/china-reeducation-camps-leaked.html">local officials</a> targeted <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-51097159/the-kazakh-muslims-detained-in-china-s-camps">Muslim minorities in China</a>. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-01/satellite-images-expose-chinas-network-of-re-education-camps/10432924">Satellite images</a> show that many of them have been held in detention camps across the vast <a href="https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/culture/i-cant-sleep-homage-uyghur-homeland">Uighur homeland</a> in northwest China.</p>
<p>China is home to <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674594975">10 different Muslim minority</a> groups. The <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/04/961387-concentrationcamps-china-xinjiang-internment-kazakh-muslim/">Kazakhs</a> and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7_bdiaX85wIVhNdkCh1_7QcbEAAYASAAEgKH8PD_BwE">Uighurs</a> are two groups that have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/opinion/china-camps-uighurs-xinjiang.html">targets of the Chinese government</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang/china-says-13000-terrorists-arrested-in-xinjiang-since-2014-idUSKCN1QZ08T">Beijing claims</a> that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/26/asia/china-xinjiang-leaks-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html">their actions</a> provide <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/14/china-claims-muslim-internment-camps-provide-professional-training">re-education</a>, <a href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1148676.shtml">create stability</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/world/asia/china-camps-muslims.html">prevent terrorist attacks</a>. But China’s actions have been <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uighur-muslim-china-xinjiang-united-nations-human-rights-uk-religious-freedom-a9177191.html">condemned internationally</a> and the country accused of <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang">repressing of human rights</a> of its Muslim minorities.</p>
<p>In total, the vast network of camps hold <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1507997">1 to 3 million Uighurs</a> and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/04/961387-concentrationcamps-china-xinjiang-internment-kazakh-muslim/">Kazakhs</a> who were sent there without trial. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/02/asia/xinjiang-china-karakax-document-intl-hnk/">A range of behaviors</a> – such as praying, getting married in a traditional ceremony and growing beards – can make the Chinese government suspicious over what it labels “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html">religious extremism</a>.” </p>
<p>Simply having a family member in an internment camp can be a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/world/asia/china-reeducation-camps-leaked.html">reason for detention</a>.</p>
<p>I began <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AOl7P5MAAAAJ&hl=en">my doctoral dissertation research</a> in 2014 in the capital city of the Uighur homeland, Urumqi, and lived there for 24 months. </p>
<p>Urumqi is a <a href="https://www.citypopulation.de/en/china/townships/urumqi/">large, diverse city of more than 3 million people</a>. In addition to being the home of Muslim ethnic minorities such as the Uighurs, the city is also home to Han Chinese residents. I interviewed <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">66 Han Chinese and 98 Uighur people</a> during my stay.</p>
<p>I saw the early years of the surveillance in Urumqi and by February 2017 some of my Uighur neighbors started to disappear.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317662/original/file-20200227-24694-106cinl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A police stations and surveillance cameras in the Uighur neighborhoods of Uruqmi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Tynen</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Police surveillance</h2>
<p>Chinese law requires <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2017.11.002">rural migrants to all Chinese cities</a> to register <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.06.008">at the local police station</a> for city resident permits. However, those born in the city or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275117309058">homeowners</a> do not have to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2016.1159190">register</a>.</p>
<p>Each and every home was under the combined jurisdiction of a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1643778">neighborhood committee</a>” and local police station. The <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801479359/the-government-next-door/#bookTabs=1">neighborhood committees</a> are the lowest administrative level of the government and <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=6335">legacies of Mao-era organization</a>, when they were used for <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23462281">social security benefits</a> as well as <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781786431622/9781786431622.00033.xml">surveillance</a>. </p>
<p>These neighborhood committees processed applications for city resident permits. In contemporary Urumqi, Han, Uighur and Kazakh people were employed as workers at the neighborhood committees. </p>
<p>As a foreigner in Urumqi, I was classified as a “migrant minority” and had to abide by government requirements when registering for my city resident permit. The following observations are based on <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">official policy instructional documents</a> given to me during my stay from 2014 to 2017.</p>
<p>I soon discovered that in Urumqi, the rules <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1643778">varied according to neighborhood</a>. City resident permit applications in Uighur-majority districts in Urumqi were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1643778">under stricter regulations</a> than those in Han-majority districts in Urumqi. </p>
<p>I lived in a Uighur-majority district, called Tianshan Qu in Chinese. For Uighur migrants living in this district, each application for a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1643778">city resident permit required several layers of permission</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">my fieldwork findings</a>, the permit application required migrant Uighurs to bring the following documents to their neighborhood police chief: household registration card from their village and their ID card. </p>
<p>The application also required other official documentation, such as a marriage license, children’s vaccination cards, apartment lease, proof of employment and background check clearances, and a required meeting with the landlord.</p>
<p>Additional letters of permission and signatures had to be obtained from people in different offices of police and government agencies. Signature and fingerprint from a “guarantor” that agreed to take responsibility for any crimes committed by the applicant, were also required. </p>
<p>Uighur migrants had to re-apply every six months.</p>
<p>Han Chinese migrants living in Urumqi also had to register for city resident permits, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1643778">the requirements for them were more relaxed</a>: The process required only their ID card. It did not require multiple background checks and signatures. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">the instructional documents</a> given to me during my fieldwork, this discrepancy was an official policy: All minorities, except Han, had to abide by this process <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">neighborhood committee officials in Urumqi told me</a>. Their reason was that some Uighurs were suspected to be terrorists. </p>
<p>As scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/darren-byler-755196">Darren Byler</a> <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/42946/Byler_washington_0250E_19242.pdf">points out</a>, in Xinjiang people were “segmented,” not just by family but by “ethnicity and work units.” They were also “bifurcated by urban or rural legal residency status.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/42946/Byler_washington_0250E_19242.pdf">application requirements</a> made it very <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/05/31/china-has-turned-xinjiang-into-a-police-state-like-no-other">difficult for poor, rural migrant Uighurs</a>.</p>
<p>The information from the city resident permit applications was recorded into a computer and <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">created a detailed database</a>.</p>
<h2>Home raids</h2>
<p>Regular home inspections were carried out by the neighborhood committees, primarily to ensure migrant Uighurs complied with registration requirements. They had been occurring on a <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/42946/Byler_washington_0250E_19242.pdf">regular basis since 2014</a>. </p>
<p>I experienced one such raid when I was visiting a friend. While the official did not question my friend when she said there were three members in her family, instead of six, he left her with strict instructions to report if anything changed. </p>
<p>Uighur residents were kept under tight surveillance, yet they mistrusted the government and many managed to <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">avoid the authorities</a> as much as possible in small forms of quiet opposition, such as not complying with registration requirements or <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">hiding during inspections</a>.</p>
<p>Other scholars have confirmed such observations. As an anthropologist at the University of Washington, <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/42946/Byler_washington_0250E_19242.pdf">Darren Byler found that</a>, in looking for unregistered occupants, the police “looked in closets and under beds.” He also found that the police would “vary the timing of inspection to make sure that the occupants would be unprepared.” </p>
<h2>Evictions and arrests</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/opinion/china-camps-uighurs-xinjiang.html">The detentions, as reported by The New York Times, began in early 2017</a>.</p>
<p>As the year 2017 progressed, Uighur migrant friends began to tell me, in whispers or coded text messages, that they had to go back home and they could no longer contact me. I never heard from many of them again. For those that stayed in the city, I frequently heard stories about friends’ relatives being taken in the middle of the night. </p>
<p>Nobody knew where they were kept, how long they would be gone, or why they had disappeared. Religious practices <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1534802">started to change</a>. For example, during my fieldwork from 2014 to 2016, I witnessed people who prayed, fasted and wore headscarves openly. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317687/original/file-20200227-24685-1y4d2u9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fabric market in Urumqi with a mosque in the background, where Uighur women are comfortable covering their heads.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Tynen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beginning in early 2017, however, the authorities began <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-researched-uighur-society-in-china-for-8-years-and-watched-how-technology-opened-new-opportunities-then-became-a-trap-119615">detaining Uighurs for any sign of religious activity</a> in Urumqi.</p>
<p>As Uighur scholar <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sml/staff/profile/jsmithfinley.html#background">Jo Smith Finley</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1534802">explains</a> that when a state puts a label of “religious extremism,” on a group of people, all religious behavior becomes suspect. Finley points to the “extreme forms of religious policing in rural Xinjiang.” She writes about “sweep-and-search operations” in Uighur homes “violating” private Uighur spaces.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gere.12360">Uighurs censored their speech</a>. By spring 2017, I stopped hearing people openly give thanks to Allah, the Arabic word for God, after meals. Even saying the words “Ramadan fasting” became taboo.</p>
<p>From February to October 2017, <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">the government changed the rules that affected Uigher people’s social lives</a>. For example, in a culture where asking guests to stay overnight was once common, police first began requiring overnight guests to register their stay. Then they said only daytime visitors were allowed to visit Uighur homes. Two weeks later, <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">police prohibited Uighurs from having guests at all</a>.</p>
<p>In 2017, housing restrictions on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1643778">Uighurs were increased</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318142/original/file-20200302-18275-1aa3se9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Chinese character meaning demolish marks a Uighur restaurant in Urumqi in May 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Tynen</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In March 2017, Uighur newcomers to the city were not allowed to rent homes in the city, forcing many Uighurs to return to the countryside. By June 2017, according to my fieldwork and interviews in Urumqi with Han and Uighur residents, all Uighurs – regardless of migration or registration status – <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">were prohibited from renting homes in Urumqi</a>.</p>
<p>The streets emptied of the usual markets and Uighur people.</p>
<p>I witnessed many Uighur shops being <a href="https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7w62f830j">demolished with bulldozers in April and May of 2017</a>.</p>
<p>I left China in October 2017. Currently, according to conservative estimates at least <a href="https://qz.com/1599393/how-researchers-estimate-1-million-uyghurs-are-detained-in-xinjiang/">10% of Uighurs</a> are detained in camps.</p>
<p>I’m not in contact with any of my Uighur friends because contacting a foreigner would be grounds for detainment. I don’t know how many of them are in detention camps. One Uighur friend told me in 2017, “We are all just waiting for the knock on our door.”</p>
<p>[<em>You’re too busy to read everything. We get it. That’s why we’ve got a weekly newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybusy">Sign up for good Sunday reading.</a> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Tynen received funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>A scholar who spent 24 months in the Uighur-dominated regions of China recalls when the Chinese crackdown on Uighurs started in 2017 – people were picked up and never returned.Sarah Tynen, Instructor, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181462019-06-03T21:02:46Z2019-06-03T21:02:46ZWhat is Eid al-Fitr and how do Muslims celebrate it? 6 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277697/original/file-20190603-69067-x1s9xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim women at a prayer service at a mosque in Redmond, Washington, to mark the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid-al-Fitr in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Inslee-Prayer-Services/fcc7cb27069e4084844b22d708433180/56/0">AP Photo/Ted S. Warren</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: Eid al-Fitr, one of Islam’s principal festivals, will be celebrated April 9, 2024, according to <a href="https://fiqhcouncil.org/calendar/">the Fiqh Council of North America</a>. At the middle of June, Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Adha. Ken Chitwood, a scholar of global Islam, explains the two Islamic festivals.</em> </p>
<h2>1. What is Eid?</h2>
<p>Eid literally means a <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">“festival” or “feast” in Arabic</a>. There are two major eids in the Islamic calendar per year – Eid al-Fitr earlier in the year and Eid al-Adha later. </p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is a three-day-long festival and is known as the “Lesser” or “Smaller Eid” when compared to Eid al-Adha, which is four-days-long and is known as the <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e740?_hi=0&_pos=2592">“Greater Eid.”</a></p>
<h2>2. Why is Eid celebrated twice a year?</h2>
<p>The two Eids recognize, celebrate and recall two distinct events that are significant to the story of Islam. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Fitr means “the feast of breaking the fast.”</a> The fast, in this instance, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>, which recalls the revealing of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad and requires Muslims to fast from sunrise to sundown for a month.</p>
<h2>3. How do Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr features two to three days of celebrations that include <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">special morning prayers</a>. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid” and with formal embraces. Sweet dishes are prepared at home and gifts are given to children and to those in need. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive and seek forgiveness. Practices vary from country to country.</p>
<p>In many countries with large Muslim populations, Eid al-Fitr is a national holiday. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. In the U.S. and the U.K., Muslims may request to have the day off from school or work to travel or celebrate with family and friends. </p>
<p>In countries like Egypt and Pakistan, Muslims decorate their homes with lanterns, twinkling lights or flowers. Special food is prepared and friends and family are invited over to celebrate. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277695/original/file-20190603-69083-1njvy5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fanous, the colorful lanterns of Ramadan, light up the streets of Amman, Jordan, throughout the holy month of fasting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ken Chitwood</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In places like Jordan, with its Muslim majority population, the days before Eid al-Fitr can see a rush at local malls and special “Ramadan markets” as people prepare to exchange gifts on Eid al-Fitr. </p>
<p>In Turkey and in places that were once part of the Ottoman-Turkish empire such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, <a href="http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1342?_hi=0&_pos=4734">it is also known as the, “Lesser Bayram” or “festival” in Turkish.</a> </p>
<h2>4. How do Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha?</h2>
<p>The other festival, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Adha, is the “feast of the sacrifice.”</a> It comes at the end of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">Hajj</a>, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime, but only for those with means.</p>
<p>Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith. The story, as narrated in the Quran, describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed. </p>
<p>But, just as Ibrahim attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God. </p>
<h2>5. When are they celebrated?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ry_aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=islam+the+straight+path+eid+esposito&source=bl&ots=OpTvV-P-BD&sig=vO86ofKfVTFj4ZZdz2iCg2-s1P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR-qaVlbzVAhWHs1QKHW53AiQQ6AEIWTAM#v=onepage&q=islam%20the%20straight%20path%20eid%20esposito&f=false">first day of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar</a>. </p>
<p>Eid al-Adha is celebrated on the <a href="https://www.oupjapan.co.jp/en/node/2191">10th day of the final month in the Islamic calendar.</a></p>
<p>The <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2">Islamic calendar</a> is a lunar calendar, and dates are calculated based on lunar phases. Since the Islamic calendar year is shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar year by 10 to 12 days, the dates for Ramadan and Eid on the Gregorian calendar can vary year by year. </p>
<h2>6. What is the spiritual meaning of Eid al-Fitr?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr, as it follows the fasting of Ramadan, is also seen as a spiritual celebration of Allah’s provision of strength and endurance. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277720/original/file-20190603-69087-rw4o11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People distribute food and drinks during the Eid celebrations in Casablanca, Morocco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Morocco-Eid/a00f0d31743b4a32a8c74b24d8740304/4/0">AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Amid the reflection and rejoicing, Eid al-Fitr is a time for charity, known as Zakat al-Fitr. Eid is meant to be a time of joy and blessing for the entire Muslim community and a time for distributing one’s wealth.</p>
<p>Charity to the poor is a highly emphasized value in Islam. <a href="http://quranexplorer.com">The Quran says</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Believe in Allah and his messenger, and give charity out of the (substance) that Allah has made you heirs of. For those of you who believe and give charity – for them is a great reward.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>This piece incorporates materials from an <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">article first published</a> on Aug. 28, 2017. The dates have been updated.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a celebration at the end of Ramadan. Here’s an introduction to this important feast and its partner, Eid al-Adha.Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Dornsife Center for Religion and Civic Culture, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1166292019-05-07T11:21:11Z2019-05-07T11:21:11ZWhat Ramadan means to Muslims: 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272824/original/file-20190506-103057-ss2d5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women pray at a mosque during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on May 6 in Bali, Indonesia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Indonesia-Ramadan/16d80ba4869d4bbd995f866e518e14b1/9/0">AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world will not eat or drink from dawn to sunset. Muslims believe that the sacred text of Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad in the final 10 nights of Ramadan.</p>
<p>Here are four ways to understand what Ramadan means for Muslims, and in particular for American Muslims. </p>
<h2>1. Importance of Ramadan</h2>
<p>Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Each pillar denotes an obligation of living a good Muslim life. The others include reciting the Muslim profession of faith, daily prayer, giving alms to the poor and making a pilgrimage to Mecca.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mohammad-hassan-khalil-274989">Mohammad Hassan Khalil</a>, associate professor of religious studies and director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">explains</a> that the Quran states that fasting was prescribed for Muslims so that they could be conscious of God. He writes,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“By abstaining from things that people tend to take for granted (such as water), it is believed, one may be moved to reflect on the purpose of life and grow closer to the creator and sustainer of all existence.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>He also notes that for many Muslims, fasting is a spiritual act that allows them to understand the condition of the poor and thus develop more empathy.</p>
<h2>2. Halal food</h2>
<p>During Ramadan, when breaking fast, Muslims will eat only foods that are permissible under Islamic law. The Arabic word for such foods, writes religion scholar <a href="https://divinity.uchicago.edu/myriam-renaud">Myriam Renaud</a>, is “halal.”</p>
<p>Renaud <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-halal-foods-95696">explains</a> that Islamic law draws on three religious sources to determine which foods are halal. These include “passages in the Quran, the sayings and customs of the Prophet Muhammad, which were written down by his followers and are called ‘Hadith’ and rulings by recognized religious scholars.”</p>
<p>In the United States, some states such as California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas restrict the use of halal label for foods that meet Islamic religious requirements. Various Muslim organizations also oversee the production and certification of halal products, she writes.</p>
<h2>3. Puerto Rican Muslims</h2>
<p>In Puerto Rico, where many have been reverting to the religion of their ancestors – Islam – Ramadan could mean combining their identity as a Puerto Rican and as a Muslim. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-chitwood-160245">Ken Chitwood</a>, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida, <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-eid-2017-a-peek-into-the-lives-of-puerto-rican-muslims-78798">explains</a> that Muslims first came to Puerto Rico as part of the transatlantic colonial exchange between Spain, Portugal and the New World. There is evidence, he writes, of the first Muslims arriving somewhere around the 16th century.</p>
<p>In his research, he found Puerto Rican Muslims in search of a “Boricua Islamidad” – “a unique Puerto Rican Muslim identity that resists complete assimilation to Arab cultural norms even as it reimagines and expands what it means to be Puerto Rican and a Muslim.”</p>
<p>He saw the expression of this identity in the food as Puerto Rican Muslims broke fast – “a light Puerto Rican meal of tostones – twice-fried plantains.” </p>
<h2>4. Jefferson’s Quran</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ramadan dinner at White House in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump/4f78727c77824939b266126cae30a8d8/44/0">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With an estimated 3.3 million American Muslims, Ramadan is celebrated each year at the White House, except for one year in 2017. Scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/denise-a-spellberg-212270">Denise A. Spellberg</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-jeffersons-vision-of-american-islam-matters-today-97915">explains</a> that the tradition was started by Hillary Clinton when she was the first lady. </p>
<p>She writes that “Islam’s presence in North America dates to the founding of the nation, and even earlier.” Among the most notable of the key American Founding Fathers who demonstrated an interest in the Muslim faith was Thomas Jefferson. Her research shows that Jefferson bought a copy of the Quran as a 22-year-old law student in Williamsburg, Virginia, 11 years before drafting the Declaration of Independence. And as she says,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The purchase is symbolic of a longer historical connection between American and Islamic worlds, and a more inclusive view of the nation’s early, robust view of religious pluralism.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>This article is a roundup of stories from The Conversation’s archive.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116629/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam – acts that denote the obligations of living a good Muslim life.Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor/ Director of the Global Religion Journalism InitiativeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1016412018-08-16T10:35:00Z2018-08-16T10:35:00ZWhat is the Hajj?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232118/original/file-20180815-2912-37rz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in August 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Khalil Hamra</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/hajj-2018-explained-two-million-muslims-descend-on-makkah-for-a-journey-of-a-lifetime-1.759610">2 million Muslim pilgrims</a> are gathering in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj">the Hajj</a>. This five-day pilgrimage <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?">is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a> for all Muslims who have the physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.</p>
<p>What is the religious and political significance of this annual pilgrimage?</p>
<h2>The fifth pillar</h2>
<p>Millions of Muslims come from countries as diverse as Indonesia, Russia, India, Cuba, Fiji, the United States and Nigeria – all dressed in plain white garments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims dressed in white garments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4123390204/in/photolist-7hnsfy-dqsVVf-7duYF4-8RpkCH-79riDe-f7bkTc-4Hh1A1-5VrCdR-5EQert-aECwxs-WfuiKx-5Zp6RG-5vEWkL-5Zp3Nd-UkvMJu-bbLaB4-baMrWa-dnXjRu-aaj4Pe-7yfUEo-6X522A-aNLLcn-dtNpmB-prVQPP-xpBTq-efCN2o-7ZiP1B-7ab1dG-7ab1du-eg4WRc-689Sed-fntKkM-RaUt4-5YD77K-7iU1uN-Sk6Z3y-5Xbum3-8UiyE8-vNjgG-pS5hEz-62kErs-dtw7BT-RtMFKv-5L8q5Y-5MNzJw-aECKRw-S8Wdyh-2jjQt-Jq48b-baj3MZ">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Men wear seamless, unstitched clothing, and women, white dresses with headscarves. The idea is to dress plainly so as to mask any differences in wealth and status. </p>
<p>The pilgrimage is considered to be the fifth pillar of Islamic practice. The other four are the profession of faith, five daily prayers, charity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">the fast of Ramadan</a>. </p>
<h2>The first day of the Hajj</h2>
<p>The rites of the Hajj are believed to retrace events from the lives of prominent prophets such as Ibrahim and Ismail. </p>
<p>Pilgrims start by circling <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">the “Holy Kaaba</a>,” the black, cube-shaped house of God, at the center of the most sacred mosque in Mecca, seven times. The Kaaba occupies a central place in the lives of Muslims. Muslims, all over the world, are expected to turn toward the Kaaba when performing their daily prayers.</p>
<p>The Quran tells the story of Ibrahim, who when commanded by God, agreed to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Muslims believe the Kaaba holds the black stone upon which Ibrahim was to carry out his oath. </p>
<p>Pilgrims are bound by <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">specific rules</a> regarding going around the Kaaba. They may kiss, touch or approach the Kaaba during the pilgrimage as a sign of their devotion.</p>
<p>In performing these rituals, they join a long line of pilgrims to Mecca – <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-life-of-muhammad-9780196360331?cc=us&lang=en&">including Prophet Muhammad</a>, who circled the Kaaba. </p>
<p>Pilgrims then proceed to a ritual walk – about 100 meters from the Kaaba – to hills known as “Safa” and “Marwah.” Here they re-create <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?">another significant event</a> recorded in the Quran.</p>
<p>The story goes that Ibrahim was granted a son by God through his Egyptian slave girl Hajar. After the birth of Ismail, God instructed Ibrahim to take Hajar and her newborn son out into the desert and leave them there. Ibrahim left them near the present-day location of the Kaaba. Ismail cried out with thirst and Hajar ran between two hills, looking for water until she turned to God for help.</p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience and sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as “Zamzam Well.” Pilgrims drink water from the sacred well and may take some home for blessings.</p>
<h2>The second day of the hajj</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims praying on Arafat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4135906354/in/photolist-7itASf-7ipEj8-7m6S5M-4kgEVJ-7iw61y-8TRppx-97r2W7-arbDH-7iscY6-7ifhd9-7ygqjr-7hX95R-fBsJ1X-7ykfkW-7ygrB8-7ygrne-7ykeTq-an6Zn-8TULHS-5Hycc7-5HtS4v-7ykf8J-5Hu33g-5HtUxP-7ygrbR-5HyeCd-5HtTPn-5HyrAE-8TUqFh-7ygrRD-8TRKpi-5HtRhv-8TRnNz-8TREd4-7ykdSq-4qY7wP-an6Zo-arbS4-qXKmg2-dcec1H-8TRzCc-8TUp9s-8TRU4c-7rR3ib-8TUVES-8TRJ9r-8TRH3K-8TRSuH-8TUUFE-8TRx2n">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hajj “climaxes” with a sojourn in the plains of Arafat near Mecca. There, pilgrims gather in tents, spend time with one another and perform prayers. Some pilgrims will ascend a hill known as the “Mount of Mercy,” where Prophet Muhammad delivered the <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/muhm-sermon.asp">farewell sermon</a> toward the end of his life. </p>
<p>They then proceed to an open plain near Mecca, often a highlight of the journey for many pilgrims. Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">spirit of God comes closer to Earth</a> in this place at the time of the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>As a <a href="http://florida.academia.edu/KenChitwood">scholar of global Islam</a>, during my fieldwork I have interviewed those who have gone on the Hajj. They have described to me their personal experiences of standing in the plains of Arafat or circling the Kaaba with fellow Muslims and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LkmkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=a+close+communion+with+god+plains+of+arafat&source=bl&ots=xfljL0qqXO&sig=ST3pnAIcye_QJ2ZbbcPA2gfMBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitdWOp4LWAhVDQiYKHamnA9QQ6AEIPjAG#v=onepage&q=a%20close%20communion%20with%20god%20plains%20of%20arafat&f=false">feeling a close communion with God</a>. </p>
<h2>Final three days</h2>
<p>Afterwards, pilgrims move to Mina, also known as the Tent City <a href="https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/08/mina-city-of-tents.html">where more than 100,000 tents house the millions of pilgrims</a> about 5 kilometers from the holy city of Mecca. </p>
<p>Here they recall how Satan tried to tempt Ibrahim to disobey <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">God’s call to sacrifice Ismail</a>. Ibrahim, however, remained unmoved and informed Ismail, who was willing to be offered to God. To reenact Ibrahim’s rebuff of Satan’s temptation, pilgrims throw small stones at a stone pillar. </p>
<p>They then proceed to follow Ibrahim in the act of sacrifice. The Quran says just as Ibrahim attempted to kill his son, God intervened and a ram was killed in place of Ismail. In remembrance, Muslims all over the world ritually slaughter an animal on this day. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">“festival of the sacrifice” is known as Eid al-Adha</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims stoning the devil in Mina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4142094316/in/photolist-7iXrgk-7iXrAK-7iXrqk-7j2iPq-8U9pyc-7iXrtK-7iXrxn-7j2jd3-7j2jfj-7ykkpd-7j2iSQ-7j2jkf-7j2j7E-7iXrcV-7j2jFy-7j2jJU-7ykk2L-7iXr7Z-7iXriZ-7iXryR-7j2job-7j2iVd-7iBtP1-7j2jGS-7iXrSX-7ykhiS-7ygxAz-7iXrLe-7j2j2d-7ygwp8-8UbHdp">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many pilgrims spend the next few days in Mina, where they repeat some of the rituals. It is where they start to <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">transition to their worldly life</a> by putting on their everyday clothes. </p>
<p>Muslims believe that a proper performance of the Hajj can absolve them of any previous sins. However, they also believe that just undertaking the pilgrimage is not enough: <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam#O3cwEbjxDttkhEyF.97">It is up to God to judge</a>, based on the intention of those undertaking the pilgrimage. </p>
<h2>Creating one Muslim community</h2>
<p>Of course, the pilgrimage does not take place in a political void. The Hajj is a massive <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">organizational project</a> for the Saudi authorities. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">Issues concerning</a> crowd management, security, traffic and tensions constantly plague the successful organization of the event. A tragic stampede in 2015 left <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/middleeast/hajj-pilgrimage-stampede/index.html">over 700 dead</a>. Since then Saudi authorities <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1355906/saudi-arabia">review preparations even more carefully</a>. </p>
<p>There are other tensions too that come up at this time: Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Shia</a> governments such as Iran, for example, have leveled <a href="http://www.alterinter.org/spip.php?article4502">charges alleging discrimination</a> by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni</a> Saudi authorities. </p>
<p>This year, Muslims from Canada are <a href="https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/08/10/hajj-pilgrims-are-concerned-that-a-spat-between-canada-and-saudi-arabia-could-affect-their-travel-plans.html">concerned about logistics</a> traveling back from the Hajj. Saudi Arabia has suspended all direct flights to Canada in a diplomatic feud <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/suspension-of-direct-saudi-flights-to-canada-marks-worsening-of-diplomatic-feud/4526381.html">sparked by tweets</a> related to the Kingdom’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/saudi-women-can-drive-but-are-their-voices-being-heard-99183">human rights violations</a>. </p>
<p>To address such issues, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&q=OIC#v=snippet&q=OIC&f=false">Muslims in the past have called</a> to put together an international, multi-partisan committee to organize the pilgrimage.
Perhaps that could help avoid regional or sectarian conflicts. The Hajj, after all, is any individual Muslim’s <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">single most</a> symbolic ritual act that reflects <a href="http://imjcr.com/journals/imjcr/Vol_3_No_1_June_2014/3.pdf">the ideal of unity</a>.</p>
<p>By requiring Muslims to don the same clothes, pray in the same space and perform the same rituals, the Hajj has the potential to unite a global Muslim community across national and class boundaries.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">originally published</a> on Aug. 31, 2017</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101641/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as Hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/956962018-05-16T10:26:34Z2018-05-16T10:26:34ZWhat are halal foods?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219062/original/file-20180515-195341-g25jw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Muslim family breaks fast during the month of Ramadan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Chris Carlson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">month of Ramadan</a>, for 30 days, Muslims who choose to fast will neither eat nor drink during daylight hours. At night, when they break their fast, many will only choose foods that are considered permissible under Islamic law. The Arabic word for such food is “halal.”</p>
<p>The halal food industry in the United States is expanding rapidly. A growing Muslim population, along with younger non-Muslim customers who consume these foods for non-religious reasons, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/halal-food-is-now-a-20-billion-business-2016-9">drove overall sales</a> to a whopping US$20 billion in 2016, a 15 percent increase since 2012.</p>
<p>To clarify, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JsEwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA266&dq=halal+food+definition&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiknfKnxvfaAhUPk1kKHaUhDm8Q6wEIPTAD#v=onepage&q=halal%20food%20definition&f=false">most foods</a> do come under the category of halal for Muslims. However, under Islamic law, the following are not considered permissible: blood, alcohol and other intoxicants, pork, meat of carnivorous animals like wolves or coyotes, birds of prey such as vultures, amphibians, snakes, and animals that live on land and water like frogs. Meat and poultry are considered halal only if the animals are conscious when slaughtered and bleed out before they die. </p>
<p>To determine which foods are halal, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=j-AqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA287&dq=U.S.+religious+meaning+of+halal+foods&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTkPT1x_faAhVBhOAKHXbBDzwQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=U.S.%20religious%20meaning%20of%20halal%20foods&f=false">Islamic jurisprudence draws on three religious sources</a>: passages in the Quran, the sayings and customs of the Prophet Muhammad, which were written down by his followers and are called <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/search?s.q=hadith&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&search-go=Search">“Hadith”</a> and rulings by recognized religious scholars.</p>
<p><a href="http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=16&verse=115">One verse</a> in the Quran says, “He [Allah] has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah.” </p>
<p>This Quranic verse merely states that animals are unfit to eat if slaughtered in the name of deities other than Allah, but jurists have <a href="http://halalcertification.ie/islamic-method-of-slaughtering/">further ruled that animals</a> must be slaughtered in the name of Allah and by a faithful Muslim. <a href="http://www.thesunniway.com/articles/item/240-is-eating-lobster-halal-or-haram">Jurists don’t always agree</a> however. For example, most jurists have ruled that shellfish is halal. Others disagree.</p>
<p>Though no federal laws regulate the use of the label “halal” on food products, states such as California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JsEwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA266&dq=halal+food+definition&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiknfKnxvfaAhUPk1kKHaUhDm8Q6wEIPTAD#v=onepage&q=halal%20food%20definition&f=false">restrict the use of this label</a> to foods that meet Islamic religious requirements. Various <a href="https://www.preparedfoods.com/articles/107888-article-fundamentals-of-halal-foods-and-certification-january-2010">private Muslim organizations</a> also oversee the production and certification of halal products.</p>
<p>Ramadan is a time set aside to celebrate and reflect on one’s relationship with Allah. For many Muslims, this includes <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226571972_Religious_values_informing_halal_meat_production_and_the_control_and_delivery_of_halal_credence_quality">respecting Islamic law</a> by making sure that halal foods await them at the end of each day’s fast.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myriam RENAUD is affiliated with The Parliament of the World's Religions. </span></em></p>Food plays an integral role during the 30-day period of Ramadan. This Speed Read explains how Muslims determine what foods are ‘halal,’ an Arabic word that means ‘permissible.’Myriam Renaud, PhD Candidate in Religious Thought and Ethics, University of ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/832842017-09-01T01:09:20Z2017-09-01T01:09:20ZExplaining the Muslim pilgrimage of hajj<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184264/original/file-20170831-25608-184cppy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims start the hajj by circling the Kaaba, the black, cube-shaped house of God.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/76868981@N04/7046120441/in/photolist-bJDd8c-bJDcVB-bvJqzh-bvJqps-bvJqa5-bJDdzt-bJDdD8-bvJrjq-UXioFx-bJDeJ8-bJDeik-bvJrLu-bJDen6-bJDdvx-bJDeDT-UUv7ZY-bvJqJo-bJDf1Z-bJDh3c-bJDgPc-bJDeyX-bvJrzj-bvJr8J-4jm9Qy-5xJFjV-bvJtZ9-bJDgKn-bJDe3n-bvJs97-bJDeX8-bJDeSD-6swosD-bJDdV4-DzA3BL-66teWG-GoPNXs-WgkeQE-oy7hPr-ogmKsH-3fy5NJ-8TmNoJ-4qY7BM-TSsycj-8XnFcZ-5GFF6S-bJDe8c-WiLAgB-5GBNZM-38PLcY-WW4FUY">UmmSqueaky</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/more-than-17-million-muslims-gather-for-start-of-hajj/2017/08/30/5f03d726-8d60-11e7-9c53-6a169beb0953_story.html?utm_term=.c7c4707d4140">1.7 million Muslims</a> have gathered this year in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage – <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj">the hajj</a>. The five-day pilgrimage <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510#r1EAFLxwIhcoTB6d.97">is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a> for all Muslims who have the physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.</p>
<p>So, what is the hajj and what is its spiritual significance? </p>
<h2>The fifth pillar</h2>
<p>Millions of Muslims from diverse countries such as Indonesia, Russia, India, Cuba, Fiji, the United States, Nigeria and others congregate in Mecca during the last month of the Muslim lunar year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims dressed in white garments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4123390204/in/photolist-7hnsfy-dqsVVf-7duYF4-8RpkCH-79riDe-f7bkTc-4Hh1A1-5VrCdR-5EQert-aECwxs-WfuiKx-5Zp6RG-5vEWkL-5Zp3Nd-UkvMJu-bbLaB4-baMrWa-dnXjRu-aaj4Pe-7yfUEo-6X522A-aNLLcn-dtNpmB-prVQPP-xpBTq-efCN2o-7ZiP1B-7ab1dG-7ab1du-eg4WRc-689Sed-fntKkM-RaUt4-5YD77K-7iU1uN-Sk6Z3y-5Xbum3-8UiyE8-vNjgG-pS5hEz-62kErs-dtw7BT-RtMFKv-5L8q5Y-5MNzJw-aECKRw-S8Wdyh-2jjQt-Jq48b-baj3MZ">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pilgrims wear plain, white garments. Men drape seamless, unstitched clothing and women dress in plain white dresses and headscarves. The idea behind dressing simply is to mask any differences in wealth and status. </p>
<p>The pilgrimage is considered the fifth pillar of Islamic practice (the other four being the profession of faith, five daily prayers, charity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">the fast of Ramadan</a>). In calling Muslims to perform the hajj, the Quran <a href="http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/">says</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Proclaim to men the pilgrimage: they will come to thee on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The rites of the hajj are believed to retrace events from the lives of prominent prophets such as Ibrahim and Ismail. </p>
<h2>The first day of the hajj</h2>
<p>Pilgrims start by circling <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">the “Holy Kaaba</a>,” the black, cube-shaped house of God (at the center of the most sacred mosque in Mecca), seven times.</p>
<p>The Kaaba occupies a central place in the lives of Muslims. In all parts of the world, Muslims are expected to turn toward the Kaaba when performing their daily prayers.</p>
<p>Specific rules <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">concerning going around</a> the Kaaba are prescribed for pilgrims. They may also kiss, touch or approach the Kaaba during the pilgrimage as a sign of their respect and continued devotion.</p>
<p>The Quran tells the story of Ibrahim’s sacrifice, who when commanded by God, agreed to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Muslims believe the Kaaba holds the black stone upon which Ibrahim was called to sacrifice Ismail. </p>
<p>In performing the rituals, they join in a long line of pilgrims to Mecca – <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-life-of-muhammad-9780196360331?cc=us&lang=en&">including Prophet Muhammad</a> – who circled the Kaaba. </p>
<p>Pilgrims then proceed to a ritual walking – about 100 meters from the Kaaba – to hills known as “Safa” and “Marwah.” Here they re-create <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510">another significant event</a> recorded in the Quran: when Ibrahim was granted a son by God through his Egyptian slave girl Hajar. After the birth of Ismail, God instructed Ibrahim to take Hajar and her newborn son out into the desert and leave them there. Ibrahim left them near the present-day location of the Kaaba. Ismail cried out with thirst and Hajar ran between two hills, looking for water until she turned to God for help.</p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience and sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as “Zamzam Well.” Pilgrims drink water from the sacred well and may take some home for blessings.</p>
<h2>The second day of the hajj</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims praying on Arafat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4135906354/in/photolist-7itASf-7ipEj8-7m6S5M-4kgEVJ-7iw61y-8TRppx-97r2W7-arbDH-7iscY6-7ifhd9-7ygqjr-7hX95R-fBsJ1X-7ykfkW-7ygrB8-7ygrne-7ykeTq-an6Zn-8TULHS-5Hycc7-5HtS4v-7ykf8J-5Hu33g-5HtUxP-7ygrbR-5HyeCd-5HtTPn-5HyrAE-8TUqFh-7ygrRD-8TRKpi-5HtRhv-8TRnNz-8TREd4-7ykdSq-4qY7wP-an6Zo-arbS4-qXKmg2-dcec1H-8TRzCc-8TUp9s-8TRU4c-7rR3ib-8TUVES-8TRJ9r-8TRH3K-8TRSuH-8TUUFE-8TRx2n">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hajj “climaxes” with a sojourn into the plains of Arafat near Mecca. There, pilgrims gather in tents, spend time with one another and perform prayers. Some pilgrims will ascend a hill known as the “Mount of Mercy,” where Prophet Muhammad delivered the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Sermon">farewell sermon</a> toward the end of his life. </p>
<p>They then proceed to an open plain near Mecca, often a highlight of the journey for many pilgrims. Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">spirit of God comes closer to Earth</a> in this place at the time of the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>As a scholar of global Islam, during my fieldwork I have interviewed those who have gone on the hajj. They have described to me their personal experiences. </p>
<p>Many pilgrims, when standing in the plains of Arafat, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LkmkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=a+close+communion+with+god+plains+of+arafat&source=bl&ots=xfljL0qqXO&sig=ST3pnAIcye_QJ2ZbbcPA2gfMBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitdWOp4LWAhVDQiYKHamnA9QQ6AEIPjAG#v=onepage&q=a%20close%20communion%20with%20god%20plains%20of%20arafat&f=false">feel a close communion with God.</a> </p>
<h2>Final three days</h2>
<p>Afterwards, pilgrims move to Mina, also known as the Tent City, about five kilometers from the holy city of Mecca. Here, they reenact another part of the story of Ibrahim’s test of faith in the sacrifice of his son. </p>
<p>They recall how Satan tried to tempt Ibrahim to disobey <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">God’s call to sacrifice Ismail</a>. Ibrahim, however, remained unmoved and informed Ismail, who was willing to be sacrificed. To reenact Ibrahim’s rebuff of Satan’s temptation, pilgrims throw small stones at a stone pillar.</p>
<p>They then proceed to follow Ibrahim in the act of sacrifice. The Quran says just as Ibrahim attempted to kill his son, God intervened and a ram was sacrificed in place of Ismail. In remembrance, Muslims all over the world sacrifice an animal on this day. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">“festival of the sacrifice” is known as Eid al-Adha</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims stoning the devil in Mina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4142094316/in/photolist-7iXrgk-7iXrAK-7iXrqk-7j2iPq-8U9pyc-7iXrtK-7iXrxn-7j2jd3-7j2jfj-7ykkpd-7j2iSQ-7j2jkf-7j2j7E-7iXrcV-7j2jFy-7j2jJU-7ykk2L-7iXr7Z-7iXriZ-7iXryR-7j2job-7j2iVd-7iBtP1-7j2jGS-7iXrSX-7ykhiS-7ygxAz-7iXrLe-7j2j2d-7ygwp8-8UbHdp">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many pilgrims spend the next few days repeating the stoning at Mina (at least six more times) and going around the Holy Kaaba in Mecca (at least once more). Pilgrims also start to put on their everyday clothes <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">to indicate a transition to their worldly life</a>. </p>
<p>It is believed that a proper performance of the hajj can absolve Muslim pilgrims of any previous sins. However, Muslims also believe that just undertaking the pilgrimage is not enough: <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam#O3cwEbjxDttkhEyF.97">It is up to God to judge the pilgrimage as acceptable or not.</a> </p>
<h2>Creating one Muslim community</h2>
<p>The hajj is a massive <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">organizational project</a> for the Saudi authorities. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">Issues concerning</a> crowd management, security, traffic and tensions constantly plague the successful organization of the annual event. A deadly stampede in 2015 left <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/middleeast/hajj-pilgrimage-stampede/index.html">over 700 dead</a>.</p>
<p>There are other ongoing tensions as well: Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Shia</a> governments such as Iran, for example, have leveled <a href="http://www.alterinter.org/spip.php?article4502">charges alleging discrimination</a> by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni</a> Saudi authorities. Furthermore, this year, citizens of <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/hajj-qataris-year-saudi-row-170825192148831.html">Qatar were not able to perform the hajj</a> following the decision by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations to severe diplomatic ties with the country.</p>
<p>To address such issues, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&q=OIC#v=snippet&q=OIC&f=false">many Muslims have called</a> for the <a href="http://www.oic-oci.org/">Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC)</a>, an intergovernmental organization, to put together an international, multi-partisan committee to organize the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>Perhaps that could help avoid regional or sectarian conflicts. The hajj, after all, is any individual Muslim’s <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">single most</a> symbolic ritual act that reflects <a href="http://imjcr.com/journals/imjcr/Vol_3_No_1_June_2014/3.pdf">the ideal of unity</a>.</p>
<p>By requiring Muslims to don the same clothes, pray in the same spaces and perform the same rituals, the hajj creates a global Muslim community, with no class distinctions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83284/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/809492017-08-29T01:27:01Z2017-08-29T01:27:01ZWhy Muslims celebrate Eid twice a year: 6 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183635/original/file-20170828-1612-1wnyyra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C2029%2C1293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims saying Eid prayers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iioc/2143824090/in/photolist-4grEdj-97qcDA-7m6S5M-azpJNa-8UmW5w-4gnAcc-4gnztg-4grBjN-4gnA7i-4grBpG-4grBuW-4grBAW-azsps9-7k8Cpz-4gnxTP-8TRk2k-4gnAke-azpLgZ-4grEns-dnYEaC-8Utw7d-8Uw7He-azsr4y-4grEsu-8Suuxc-dnYy78-dnYySF-dnYyF4-7kcwPJ-8U9xPG-94EVPR-8U6tFD-dnYDbA-dnYENS-dnYxGR-dnYzoK-dnYF1G-8U9xSW-M987uB-gQTHth-gUszJc-LbN59b-M62wcY-M9829B-M1YgT2-LGrXGu-M62uhA-LGrZjC-M62uab-M984jD">IIOC Masjid Omar AlFarouk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: At sundown on June 28, Muslims all over the world celebrated one of the principal festivals, Eid al-Adha. Earlier in April, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr. Scholar Ken Chitwood explains the two Islamic festivals.</em></p>
<h2>1. What is Eid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid literally means a “festival” or “feast” in Arabic</a>. It is celebrated twice a year as Eid al-Adha, (pronounced eed al-Ahd-huh) and Eid al-Fitr. </p>
<h2>2. Why is it celebrated twice a year?</h2>
<p>The two Eids recognize, celebrate and recall two distinct events that are significant to the story of the Islamic faith. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Fitr means “the feast of breaking the fast.”</a> The fast, in this instance, is that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>, which recalls the revealing of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. </p>
<p>Eid celebrations can last up to three days. In many countries with large Muslim populations, it is a national holiday. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. Saudi Arabia has announced a <a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-announces-16-day-eid-al-adha-holiday">16-day holiday</a> this year for Eid. In Turkey and in places that were once part of the Ottoman-Turkish empire such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, <a href="http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1342?_hi=0&_pos=4734">it is also known as the, “Lesser Bayram”</a> (meaning “lesser festival” in Turkish). </p>
<p>The other festival, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Adha, is the “feast of the sacrifice.”</a> It commemorates the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime, but only for those with means.</p>
<p>Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith (the story is of Abraham and Isaac in the Hebrew Torah and Christian Old Testament). The story, as narrated in the Quran, describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed. </p>
<p>But, just as Ibrahim attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. This story has institutionalized the ideal of sacrifice in Islam and continues to be commemorated each year. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God. Eid al-Adha is <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e740?_hi=0&_pos=2592">also known as the “Greater Bayram</a>.” </p>
<h2>3. When are they celebrated?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Adha is celebrated on the <a href="https://www.oupjapan.co.jp/en/node/2191">10th day of the 12th and final month in the Islamic calendar.</a></p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ry_aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=islam+the+straight+path+eid+esposito&source=bl&ots=OpTvV-P-BD&sig=vO86ofKfVTFj4ZZdz2iCg2-s1P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR-qaVlbzVAhWHs1QKHW53AiQQ6AEIWTAM#v=onepage&q=islam%20the%20straight%20path%20eid%20esposito&f=false">first day of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2">Islamic calendar</a> is a lunar calendar, and dates are calculated based on lunar phases. Due to this, the Islamic calendar year is shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar year by 10 to 12 days. </p>
<p>Thus, Ramadan and Eid “rotate” through the Gregorian calendar and can be celebrated during different seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. In 2017, for example, Eid al-Fitr was celebrated on June 25. In 2018, the date for Eid al-Fitr will be June 15. For Eid al-Adha, the date this year is September 1. In 2018, it will fall on August 21. </p>
<h2>4. What customs are common during the two Eids?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr features two to three days of celebrations that include <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">special prayers</a>. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid.” Gifts are given out to the poor before the morning prayers. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive differences and let go of grudges. There are a multitude of other practices that vary from country to country. </p>
<p>On Eid al-Adha, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Hajj.html?id=EK5MqskDYC0C">pilgrims in Mecca reenact Ibrahim’s rejection</a> of Satan’s temptation. During the pilgrimage, Muslims cast stones at a pillar, which represents Satan. In remembrance of how Ibrahim was given a ram to sacrifice as a substitute for his son, they proceed to sacrifice animals such as goats, cattle, sheep or camels. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large number of people gathered around a black structure, the Kaaba." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslim-pilgrims-circumambulate-the-kaaba-islams-holiest-news-photo/1161809345?adppopup=true">Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those unable to go on the pilgrimage <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">visit mosques and even family gravesites.</a>.</p>
<h2>5. What is the spiritual meaning of sacrifice during Eid al-Adha?</h2>
<p>The sacrifice represents how, like Ibrahim, pilgrims and practicing Muslims worldwide are willing to give up <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L31e4m2GUTwC&source=gbs_similarbooks">even their most precious possessions</a>. </p>
<p>Charity to the poor is a highly emphasized value in Islam. <a href="http://quranexplorer.com">The Quran says</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“believe in Allah and his messenger, and give charity out of the (substance) that Allah has made you heirs of. For those of you who believe and give charity – for them is a great reward.” (57.7)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, as part of this practice, only around a third of the meat is consumed by the family or group of friends; the rest is given to the poor and needy. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the sacrifice of animals too is carried out <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/introduction-to-islam-9780190467487?cc=us&lang=en&">through specific instructions</a> that minimize their suffering. This is part of the moral obligation of Muslims. </p>
<h2>6. What are some of the modern-day challenges?</h2>
<p>With more than two million arriving in Mecca these days, the pilgrimage presents a <a href="https://tradearabia.com/index.php?/news/MISC_290820.html">logistical challenge</a> for countries providing meat for the sacrifice. Saudi authorities strive to <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/flash-freezing-takes-care-of-surplus-meat-from-haj-sacrifice-1.310668">find alternative methods</a> of preserving, distributing and dealing with the vast amount of meat that comes from the animal sacrifices. </p>
<p>In the U.S. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/09/12/eid-al-adha-muslims/90261968/">Muslims consume halal meat</a> – that is, meat that has been prepared by adhering to the rules – but they are not allowed to perform the sacrifice themselves. Food laws require that meat be acquired from certified butchers who follow standard federal and halal rules. However, some Muslims might send money to their friends and relatives in other countries to help fund a sacrifice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) beginning this Friday evening. Here’s an introduction to this important feast.Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.