Ramadan is the name of the ninth month of the Islam calendar. It is the month in which the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the prophet Mohammed. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and is compulsory for every adult Muslim during the daylight hours. The month of Ramadan changes and this year it is from July 19 to August 18.
Last week Friday I was ' confronted ' with Ramadan while visiting ships.....It turned out to be a very interesting day of ship visiting.....to say the least!
In the morning I boarded a ship from Turkey with an entirely Turkish crew. Coming from a Muslim country, it's crew was not allowed to disembark during the month of Ramadan. When I asked if I could help them in any way they asked me to buy them some very necessary items such as soap and toothpaste
The second visit was to a Korean ship with the crew members coming from Indonesia, another predominantly Muslim nation. Upon entering the mess room, I wondered aloud why no one was eating. "We are Muslims sir, and it it Ramadan " was their unabashed answer. Sometimes I wish we Christians could be so forthright about what we believe and in whom.
The Indonesian cook, offered me lunch since he had prepared food for the Korean officers anyways. I gladly accepted the offer. Soon one Indonesian crew member joined me for lunch and I said, " You must be a Christian?" "Yes, I am from Sulawesi ( formerly Celebes ) and I am a Protestant Christian." So there we were eating, the two of us, in the presence of 10 or more abstaining crew members. Reflecting on this later, I wondered whether it was offensive of me as a Christian to do this in front of these Muslims.
Eventually, the day, or rather the evening became even more interesting. Also in port was a ZIM ship from Israel. Since I knew the officers and crew very well, I was invited to share the Shabbat meal with them, something I have done before. On this occasion, the captain began the meal by reading some Hebrew prayers and then passed the wine and the bread remembering the passover when the Lord brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. What followed was a delicious meal of fish, steak and Middle Eastern prepared vegetables.
After such an interesting day, I was reflecting on the various world religions, Islam and Judaism and Christianity. All three claim to be the true religion and all three claim to have Abraham as their spiritual father as well. Now what! Well, in my next blog,I will try to explain which one is the true one.