Occasionally, I will report on matters from Aceh since my wife is from that region of Indonesia. Aceh is a regional hotbed for the implementation of the shari'a in Indonesia, and it's important to discuss and document how such implementation is going in addition to analyzing the reasons behind it and the larger Aceh independence movement. In this particular case, the details are rather scant.
There are many reasons why one might break a fast including your health and menstrual cycles. Regardless of the "legality" of this for Muslims, enforcement of such law in a secular society by police is absolutely horrid. If someone doesn't want to fast, Allah (subhana wa t'ala) knows his intention. Believers should certainly ENCOURAGE fasting, they should make it easy on those who are failing to do so. Invite them over for iftar, talk to them, reason with them... don't frickin' lash them.
Agree! Sometimes I don't understand why people like to pretend to be God. Instead of helping those people by encouraging them to see and feel the benefit of fasting, they just like to impose a rule/punishment from their own perspective. It's really sad to see people in Aceh perceive Islam from one angle and not really welcome for discussing, questioning regarding Islam itself. Hopefully, this attitude will change, and more and more people will realize that Islam should be seen and analyzed from wide angles.
ReplyDeleteRuby, definitely. It's important that we speak up about this. Thanks for commenting!
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