Greetings for Ramadan: The politics of good wishes
July 3, 2014 Leave a comment
Greetings for Ramadan: The politics of good wishes
Jun 30th 2014, 15:39 by B.C.
AS MUSLIMS all over the world face the tough slog of mixing daily work with dawn-to-dusk fasting, at a time when days in the northern hemisphere are formidably long, they can at least be assured that their political leaders wish them well—especially in the English-speaking countries.
In the Anglosphere, but not in most other Western countries, offering warm words to Muslim citizens as they begin their fast has become an annual ritual, just like a Christmas or Easter message. David Cameron’s was particularly warm, effusive and substantial this year, whereas the greeting offered by Barack Obama was more modest in scope than in previous years. For example, the message from the White House pointedly avoided any reference to Arab struggles for democracy and confined itself to generalities about the Muslim belief in care for others and community spirit. Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper was more concise, but he recalled that Ramadan was “a time for fasting, worship and contemplation as well as a time to share with family, friends and community.”
Read more at http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/06/greetings-ramadan
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