Current Events

Breaking Bread Together For Iftar

HARINDER SINGH

Iftar (Arabic: breakfast), refers to the evening meal when Muslims end their fast at the time of sunset, right at the time of maghrib adhan after the maghrib prayer in Shia practice (mustahib) and before the maghrib prayer in the Sunni tradition,, during the Islamic month of Ramadan. [Wikipedia]




The following was a speech delivered recently at an Iftar dinner in New Jersey, USA.

 

Thank you and may peace be upon all of us.

Rather than just give you a pep talk like most interfaith gatherings do, I want to use this as an opportunity to say some things that I feel very strongly, very much in my heart, about all of us.

First of all, I would like to say what an enormous privilege it is for me to have been invited to this Iftar. I understand how important this evening and the celebration of Ramadan is. This is, after all, one of the five pillars of Islamic faith.

Iftar is one of the religious observances often done as a community with people gathering to break their fast together. For Muslims Iftar is very rewarding and was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad.

In Sikh tradition, langar – the free kitchen – is a norm practiced daily by gurdwaras, the Sikh place of learning and worship.

In our revealed scriptural tradition, langar is first invoked as shabad – the wisdom, then as food for physical sustenance. In that spirit, I invoke Maulana Rumi: “O moon-faced Beloved, the month of Ramadan has arrived. Cover the table and open the path of praise ... Your chick frets within the egg, with all your eating and choking. Break out of your shell that your wings may grow. Let yourself fly.”

Indeed, let yourself fly.

Here, I would like to share with you a story which informs a lot of my thinking about coming tonight. It's a story about my Guru … perfection that includes the prophet-genius.

Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, with his Muslim companion Mardana traveled quite a bit in the early 16th century. Amongst other destinations, their journeys also took them to centers of Islamic culture at Medina, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Damascus, Istanbul, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Kabul, before retuning back to the Punjab – the land of five rivers, the region currently surrounded by India, Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan.

During their travels, they also reached Mecca. Upon arrival, Guru Nanak had several dialogues with Qazi Rukan-ud-din and Sheikh Ibrahim Makhdum Baha-ud-din. I share a few pearls of wisdom from Guru Nanak’s dialogue relevant to today’s occasion:

“I treasure compassion and abandon craving, thus I fast every day ... by submitting in all humility to whatever comes from Ik Oankar – One Force.”

“Rituals cherished ... lead nowhere. All their devotion will vanish unless they treasure kindness and renounce the devices of hatred and vanity. The world is bewitched by hatred and vanity. This world is a magic show which has no reality. The truth is, the Creator is contained in the Creation. Fix your eyes on Ik Oankar and you will see the One everywhere. “

“If you keep fast, then do it in a way so that you adopt the compassion, well being and ask for the good will of everyone.”

”Let your mind be content, and be kind to all beings. In this way, your fast will be successful." [GGS: 299]

Guru Nanak in his divine revelations uses the symbolism of the Ka’ba as the heart, Mecca as the mind, and the Haji as one who purifies. When mind turns toward heart, compassion arises naturally, and one has gone to hajj.

Divine Love transcends everything, including prescribed rituals. The Sikh lifestyle, even with its own doctrines and protocols, gives more emphasis to practice of love over dogma.

Guru Nanak’s, and thus the Sikh affinity to Islamic values is clear. We do not have to share the religious protocols; our relationships as human beings are based on certain intrinsic human values.

I take this moment to celebrate those shared traits with you. I may not fully understand what Ramadan means to you, but I do understand how important it is to you. I believe that you are living in a profound way – daily – a life that's consistent with the ethical mandates that the Divine has given you, which I sincerely honor.

I think as people of faith, we understand what it means to live under a world of authority – the authority that's been revealed to us by the One, the Creator. We are partners, we are friends, and we celebrate with our Muslim sisters and brothers tonight in this feast, and throughout the year. In this world, grown men’s wars are killing children in Gaza, India, Syria, Nigeria, and elsewhere.

We must leverage our relationship with the Divine, not merely for acts of fasts and charity, but with a pledge that we may respond with sincerity and honesty.

Again in the words of Guru Nanak, let’s make Ka’ba our heart, Mecca the mind, and go on a hajj of self-purifying reflection.

Thank you. Happy Iftar!



The author is the co-founder and CEO of the Sikh Research Institute.

Edited for sikhchic.com
July 19, 2014

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