As the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron prepares for a Jubilee year and
meditates on its significance, our Muslim neighbors have begun their annual
observance of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast. The Islamic calendar is
based on lunar months, each beginning with the sighting of the new moon.
This year Ramadan began on December 9th and so coincides with the Jewish
Hanukkah and the Christian celebration of Christ's birth.

Through discussions with our Muslim friends about the meaning of Ramadan,
team members have been struck by the similarity of intent in Christianity
and Islam.

Jubilee calls for a redistribution of wealth through the recall of debts and
the restoration of property. It is a vision of humbling the wealthy and
raising up the poor so that opportunities for all people are brought into
balance.

The Islamic practice of fasting during the month of Ramadan shares such a
vision of economic justice. Muslims consider Ramadan the month of mercy and
forgiveness, just as Jubilee is a time to forgive debts and to show mercy to
those who have experienced enslavement of any kind.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, abstaining from food, beverages including
water, and smoking in order to feel what it is like for poor people who
don't have enough to eat. Fasting is also considered good for health and a
way to test one's self-control. But Ramadan is much more than simply
fasting and abstinence.

All Muslims are required to take care of the needy, especially during the
month of Ramadan. Islam teaches that one should not be able to sleep if
one's neighbor is impoverished, whether or not the neighbor is Muslim.
During Ramadan it is mandatory for every Muslim, including children and the
poor, to give the equivalent of a meal directly to those in need. Through
this, the ties linking people to each other are strengthened.

Ramadan is a time when people make a special effort to connect with each
other, both in one's family and within and beyond one's community. This
especially occurs at sundown with the breaking of the fast, a special time
for family, friends, and guests to be together. It is a time to recognize
the equality of all people and to draw closer to God.

The fasting and caring of Ramadan is the ideal for the whole year, just as
the Jubilee vision of a new earth, replete with life-blessings for all its
inhabitants, is the constant hope of Christianity. It is the vision that
resonates in the words of Isaiah 58: 6-7:

I'll tell you what it really means to worship the Lord.
Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
Share your food with everyone who is hungry;
share your home with the poor and homeless.