The triumph of self over self-centeredness Editorial
Guyana Chronicle
November 26, 2003

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THE Muslim community began three days of Eid yesterday, commemorating the successful conclusion of 30 days of fasting in what is known as the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Community leaders confirmed sighting "the New Crescent for Shawal (1424 A.H)" Monday evening. Thus begins the month of Shawal.

Eid, punctuated with feasting and the sharing of food to the unfortunate, celebrates the triumph of self over self-centeredness.

In an EID message, the PPP/C said the triumph of selfless service over self-interest entails the inculcation of values such as "sacrifice, patience, self-restraint, discipline and fortitude" - all of which, it said, are associated with the fasting in this most special time of the Muslim calendar.

"By their devotion, the Muslim community reminds us all of the preciousness of those core values that are universal to all faiths and necessary for successful nation building," the party said in a statement Monday.

President Bharrat Jagdeo also spoke for the entire nation when he said the observation of Eid-Ul-Fitr transcends socio-religious persuasions, and when he urged that it marks "a new beginning in the spiritual, cultural and moral life not only of Muslims of but also of all Guyanese."

In today's Guyana, where societal woes present additional challenges to a Government and people already facing uphill battles trying to leap the centuries, President's Jagdeo's message is very profound.

One Jonathan Maccabee, deliberating on The Role of Religion in Society in a forum called Speaker's Corner, quotes some observers as saying that religion in a free society has no place in public life and should concern itself only with the world to come. "Others," he says, "believe that the world view of faith necessitates that one's outlook on life be changed and that it therefore must have its place in public life."

Amid debate on religion having a positive or a negative impact on society, the Guyana Government seems to subscribe to the notion that religion is the one institution in our society whose sole purpose is the ethics and morals of humanity.

That gives it an awesome responsibility.

In the circumstance, the Muslim community must continue to use occasions like Eid-Ul-Fitr not just to strengthen its members' "sense of mercy, charity and forgiveness," as President Jagdeo urged, but must also, with its Hindu and Christian counterparts, set an agenda to reverse the trends of drug abuse, violence, crime and immorality that are tearing at the moral fabric of our country.

Equally important, the Guyanese leader emphasized, "the challenges of the past month, so admirably overcome by our Muslim brothers and sisters, should imbue in all of us greater faith in and commitment to our family, community and country. We all should emulate their sacrifices and be more steeled in our determination to play our part in deepening national unity and democracy so as to enhance progress of our country."

The many organizations that have sent Eid messages to the Muslim community make the very point.

Like them, we share the hope of all that in celebrating Eid, Muslims and Guyanese of every other religious persuasion will take up the challenge of putting morality and social peace and justice ahead of immorality and injustice, and putting Guyana onto the superhighway of togetherness, selfless service and prosperity.