“You are commanded to fast”

adminonNovember 10, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Muslims celebrate Ramadan © Mohammed Saber

Ramadan begins again on Wednesday: For the nearly five million Muslims in Germany, this marks the start of an almost four-week fasting period. What exactly does Ramadan mean?

Ramadan – what does it mean?

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. Its name comes from the Arabic. It is derived from the root "ramida" and stands for "burning heat and dryness". According to Islamic belief, the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed in this month. In Ramadan, devout Muslims fast. The "burning heat" is not meant to refer to the season, but to the feeling in the stomach of the fasting person. Fasting ("Saum") is one of the five so-called pillars of Islam, along with the profession of faith ("Shahada"), daily prayer five times a day ("Salat"), the alms tax ("Zakat") and the pilgrimage to Mecca ("Hajj").

To whom does the fasting commandment apply, and what does a devout Muslim have to keep in mind??

The fasting commandment applies to all Muslims from the age of religious maturity, which corresponds to the age of about 14 years. Decisive are the verses 183 to 185 of Sura 2. This Quranic passage begins with the words, "Ye believers! You are commanded to fast, just as those who lived before you were commanded to fast."Between the start of dawn and sunset, Muslims are forbidden to eat, drink, smoke and have sexual intercourse. With the "Iftar", the common dinner, the chamfering is terminated daily.

If necessary, special prayers follow ("Tarawih"). Ramadan is followed by the three-day festival of breaking the fast, "Id al Fitr" in Arabic. In Turkish, the festival is called "ramazan bayram" ("Ramadan festival"). Children, the elderly, the sick, pregnant women and travelers are exempt from the fasting requirement.

Why does Ramadan shift from year to year??

The Islamic calendar calculation is based on the moon and not the sun, unlike the Gregorian calendar used in the West. According to this, the year has only about 354 and not 364 days. It so happens that although Ramadan always lasts about 30 days, it moves forward by about 11 days each year.

How Muslims look at Ramadan today?

Although the month of fasting is very important in the Islamic faith, it is also a source of controversy – even within the Muslim community. This starts with its timing, which is not uniform due to different calculation bases. In Germany, the major Islamic associations have been following the guidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) since 2008. Muslims living in Scandinavia in the Arctic Circle usually orient themselves to the times in Saudi Arabian Mecca or Turkey during the summer, when the sun practically never sets.

Many Muslims perceive the fasting period as a time of purification. But abstaining from water and food during the day doesn't seem to agree with everyone. For example, according to media reports, domestic and road accidents are increasing in Saudi Arabia at this time because people are tired and overstimulated.

The historian and consumer researcher Frank Trentmann has observed a commercialization of the evening breaking of the fast in recent years. After sunset in Ramadan, the shopping malls in Islamic countries are particularly well frequented.

Fasting – does it also exist in other religions??

Fasting is not a unique feature of Islam. In Christianity, the fasting period lasts from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus is to be preceded by 40 days of penance and purification. In the past, fasting was also practiced in the weeks before Christmas, during Advent, in preparation for the feast of the birth of Jesus. It is still widespread in the Orthodox churches today.

The Jews know several days of fasting, the most important is Yom Kippur in September or October. The tradition probably goes back to the time of the Jewish people in the Babylonian exile in the 6th century. Going back to the sixteenth century B.C. Buddhists also know several days of fasting, including the Vesakh festival on the first full moon day in May or June. Then the birth, death and enlightenment of Buddha is commemorated.

An extreme form of fasting is the so-called Prayopavesa in Hinduism. In this ritual, death is accepted by the complete renunciation of food. Prayopavesa, according to Hindu teachings, is reserved only for people who no longer have any obligations or desires for life. Experts compare this practice with the death fasting of the seriously ill.

The moral theologian Eberhard Schockenhoff passed away on Saturday. Schockenhoff was a longtime member of the German Ethics Council. He was primarily concerned with questions of bioethics and the life sciences and participated in the Synodal Way.

Theologian Eberhard Schockenhoff is dead. This was confirmed by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Freiburg. The 67-year-old died Saturday in Freiburg as a result of an accident.

Schockenhoff was one of the most renowned theologians and ethicists in Germany. For a long time he was a member of the German Ethics Council. In Freiburg he held the chair of moral theology. Schockenhoff was a particularly sought-after expert in the field of life sciences and bioethics.

DBK and ZdK pay tribute to Schockenhoff

The German Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) have paid tribute to the late theologian. The chairman of the Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Batzing, on Sunday praised Schockenhoff's "visionary power in his theological research and speeches as well as his remarkable analytical brilliance". ZdK President Thomas Sternberg expressed "high esteem and deeply felt gratitude".

Batzing emphasized that Schockenhoff never taught with a raised forefinger or thought in categories of prohibition. The bishop described Schockenhoff's complete scientific work "as a moral theology that serves humanity". Sternberg also said Schockenhoff had developed a timely sexual morality "that people understood". Schockenhoff's thinking, he said, was anchored in the present but not opposed to the traditions of the Church.

Appreciations from church and politics

The Archbishop of Freiburg Stephan Burger expressed his concern. Schockenhoff had been connected to the archdiocese in many ways, he said. "The Archdiocese of Freiburg and the Catholic Faculty are deeply indebted to him. With him we lose a committed and esteemed theologian and priest."

Rottenburg Bishop Gebhard Furst called Schockenhoff one of the most distinguished moral theologians and social ethicists. He has influenced the social discourse on bioethical and medical ethics ies. Furst paid tribute to the Rottenburg diocesan priest as a priest and scientist "for whom honesty and authenticity and the question of conscience always took precedence over economic or political interests".

Ruhr Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck said on Monday that the scientist had written critically and in a way that was appropriate to the situation –
always thinking loyally with the Church – knew how to speak out. "His theology was based on the foundation of a comprehensive and
Schockenhoff's "knowledge of the tradition of our church, which he kept alive in a rational manner in various contemporary discourses, as is still the case today in the face of major challenges in medical ethics," said the Bishop of Essen.

Baden-Wurttemberg's Minister President Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) paid tribute to Schockenhoff as an influential theologian. His contributions to ecclesiastical and social debates are characterized by "visionary ideas".

Faculty Day: "Not a comfortable, but always a competent interlocutor"

With great consternation and sadness, the president of the Catholic Theological Faculty Day (KThF), Johanna Rahner, has reacted to the death of her colleague Eberhard Schockenhoff. Schockenhoff's death is not only a great loss for German scientific theology, but for society as a whole, Rahner said on Sunday.

Schockenhoff was perceived and taken seriously as one of the most renowned theologians of his generation, even outside his discipline. "Eberhard Schockenhoff was not a comfortable, but always a competent interlocutor."

In Catholic ethics, the Freiburg scientist had opened many doors and advanced Catholic sexual morality, according to Rahner. As examples, she cited the topics of sexuality and abuse, as well as the treatment of women in his church. For the inner-Catholic discussion process Synodal Way, in which Schockenhoff had been involved in the Forum Sexuality, his death was a catastrophe.

Theologian Striet pays tribute to Schockenhoff

The Freiburg theologian Magnus Striet paid tribute to his colleague Eberhard Schockenhoff, who died over the weekend, as an excellent scientist whose arguments were heard in politics and society. For example, in biopolitical debates, Schockenhoff always advocated "not simply sacrificing ethical principles to economic benefit calculations," Striet said Monday on Deutschlandfunk radio (DLF).

Schockenhoff's strength was also to always remain curious for new social and scientific developments and to use well-founded criticism or new arguments for his thinking, Striet said. "Also his attitude, according to which theology should never be abstract debate, but a theology close to man, will remain."

In internal church discussions – for example, in the area of sexual morality or in the discussion about remarried divorcees – Schockenhoff was concerned with "moving forward and reconsidering historically grown positions when they are no longer tenable," said Striet.

Schockenhoff: priest and professor

Born in Stuttgart in 1953, Eberhard Schockenhoff studied theology, first in Tubingen, then in Rome, where he was ordained priest in 1978. He did his doctorate under Alfons Auer and was assistant to the later Cardinal of the Curia Walter Kasper in Tubingen. In the early 1990s, Schockenhoff was appointed professor of moral theology in Regensburg; in 1994, he moved to Freiburg.

Schockenhoff had been a member of the National Ethics Council since 2001, and of the German Ethics Council from 2008 to 2016, where he served as vice chairman for four years. In 2016, he amed the presidency of the Catholic Academic Alien Service (KAAD) and was involved in many other church groups and contexts.

Medicine, Peace Ethics and the Synodal Way

Schockenhoff published numerous academic studies in which he addressed current social and political ies. For example, he dealt with questions of medical ethics and sketched out the outlines of an ethic of peace in the age of the new rearmament. In 2007, his broad study on the "Theology of Freedom" was published.

Within the church, Schockenhoff was an important mediator and contact person. Thus, he committed himself to a sexual ethic that is oriented toward the different realities of life and does not focus on rigid norms. Schockenhoff also played a central role in the current deliberations on the future of the church and pastoral care in Germany, the Synodal Way discussion process.

Starting signal for the "Synodal Way": For two years, bishops and lay people want to discuss questions of power, the role of women or church sexual morals. Catholic youth are also talking – and have hope that something will happen.

Interviewer: The sexual abuse scandal has plunged the Catholic Church in Germany into a shattering crisis. With the so-called "synodal way" it plans necessary reforms. The Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) is also involved. How do you participate in the "Synodal Way"??

Thomas Andonie (Federal Chairman of the Federation of German Catholic Youth / BDKJ): The BDKJ is involved in the "Synodal Way" in very different ways. At one point, we were involved in the process through the federal board of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). In the joint conference of bishops, laywomen and laymen we have worked as youth representatives and have helped to initiate the statutes. Now, of course, we are very pleased that there are 15 additional places for young people through the Central Committee of German Catholics, which the BDKJ as a self-organized Catholic youth work may also allocate accordingly.

Interviewer: Benno Schwaderlapp of the Catholic movement "Initiative Pontifex" has indirectly accused the BDKJ of unilaterally representing its own reform interests and of not involving conservative young people. Is that so?

Andonie: I think it is very important to first look at who the BDKJ is? The BDKJ is the umbrella organization of the Catholic youth associations in Germany and is democratically organized according to the motto "Youth leads youth". A very broad spectrum of young people is represented in the BDKJ. There are 17 youth associations and 660.000 members. And that ranges from Unitas, the student associations, to more "progressive" groups that perhaps bring in another political stance.

But the BDKJ in itself represents what the young people decide in it. We are a democratic organization that acts with a reference to the world of faith and life. I don't know how Mr. Schwaderlapp comes up with this idea, but we are not looking for political sentiments, but we are thinking: How do we get the "Synodal Way" on a good track and how can young people participate and contribute? This is the standard for us.

Interviewer: The BDKJ did not respond to applications to participate in the "Synodal Way" of the "Pontifex" initiative – this is what Benno Schwaderlapp said on Deutschlandfunk radio. Do you have anything against the initiative?

Andonie: No, of course not. Everyone should act as he sees fit. It is right and good to want to live the faith and share it with others. I personally have not received any feedback or request from Mr. Schwaderlapp or other members of the "Initiative Pontifex". The application process for the "Synodal Way" was opened on 1. December closed, but the selection process is still to come. From Friday, the BDKJ main committee will deliberate.

The decision on which young people will then get those 15 seats in the Synodal Assembly will not be confirmed until before Christmas. The result of the BDKJ main committee must be confirmed first by the central committee of the German Catholics. Therefore, I do not know what Mr. Schwaderlapp expects.

Interviewer: Many people say that this reform process of the "Synodal Way" only leads to frustration because fundamental questions like the priesthood of women or celibacy are already decided in advance. Nothing would and could move there. What do you think: Will something move or will you end up with frustration??

Andonie: The important thing is to look realistically at what is possible. We also know that the Church is not a monolith that stands firm. The church is on the way through time. Accordingly, it must also change constantly in order to recognize the signs of the times and to be able to proclaim the good news. The church is in the 19th century. The church has not been in the nineteenth century as it was in the second century.

The "Synodal Way" should primarily answer the questions of the Catholic Church in Germany. And yet, the big questions, which are also of a world-church nature, should be formulated and then discussed at the world-church level. I believe that change is always possible. We have now seen at the Amazon Synod that there was talk about whether priests could not also be married. The ie of celibacy is not set in stone, nor did the good Lord prescribe it to the Church. These were decisions that were made at some point.

We must always remember where this "synodal way" comes from. The "synodal way" comes through abuse of power. Because the concentrated power of individual consecrated heads has made sexualized violence possible and covered it up. Because in the end this has caused such immense damage to the church that one wonders how a church can credibly proclaim the good news and carry Jesus Christ into the world when it itself acts so wrongly and brings indescribable suffering upon people. That's where this "synodal way" comes from, and we have to work on these structures.

And not everything is regulated in Rome. Rome does not say if there is a young woman in an ordinariate conference who is perhaps not consecrated, but a normal young woman like, for example, the BDKJ diocesan chairwoman. These are steps that are possible. There are many young people who want to help shape the church. I am very pleased that we received over 230 applications. We could fill each of the 15 seats with 15 people. Of course, this will be a very difficult selection process. We will think about how we can involve the young people in the "synodal way", who unfortunately do not get the chance to be part of the synodal assembly.

Interviewer: How confident are you that something will change decisively in the church??

Andonie: I have not given up hope yet. I have read and heard many encouraging words, and I hope that they will be followed by action. When you see that 230 young people are interested in this "Synodal Way" and want to actively participate, it would be a great disappointment and a real indictment of the Church if it fails to show these young people: It is about the message of Jesus Christ to the world, not about rigid ideas of power and maintaining power, system and influence on personal life. It's about taking the good news into the world.

I believe that we are on the right track if these reform efforts are really honest and not always nipped in the bud. We are on a journey through time. And on a way one must also move and also go.

The interview was conducted by Martin Bornemeier.

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