Government authorities and institutions seek to influence society through all available means, including coercion, the media, education, and popular culture. This is often met with anti-establishment reactions from the public.
Recently, there has been a trend toward what could be called anti-authoritarianism on American college campuses and among activist groups. University students now often question educators and university authorities and challenge what they see as unwarranted uses of power and authority. They are becoming increasingly skeptical of didactic teachings of any kind.
Across society as a whole, it has never been more difficult to influence others from a position of authority or expertise. The anti-vaccination movement is an example of resistance to expertise. It is primarily based on distrust of traditional institutions and knowledge structures.
Many people in the United States are also turning away from organized religion and are now more agnostic and even atheistic than ever before. Many people do not like the idea of judgment in their lives, even through established institutions or “norms.”
Given the background of agnosticism, it is difficult to imagine that religion influences large numbers of people. Religion and belief in the unseen are considered by many to be powerless and outdated products. It is abandoned in favor of material success and progress. Moral anarchy and liberalism are things that many people admire.
But what if a religion could inspire a billion people to suspend their most basic human needs, like food and water, for one day for a month?
What if faith in the invisible motivates a billion people to worship God religiously for a month, especially at night, as if that were the only thing on their minds? What if you could?
What if faith could influence a billion people and inspire them to feed the hungry after fasting all day?
What if religious beliefs made a community more altruistic and allowed them to donate to welfare or charity for a month?
What if a billion people learned to forgive each other's mistakes by practicing their faith?
What if a noble civilization of more than a billion people could dispel the myth that humanity cannot survive without violence, pillage, robbery, and murder?
What if organized religion insists on unity among a billion people, and we all find no reason to act in unison and fight over our differences?
yes. What if it's true!
Muslims reading this will know that they are the beneficiaries and witnesses of this wonderful phenomenon during the month of Ramadan. They are united in worship of the Creator. They all seek Allah's forgiveness and blessings.
The month of Ramadan is the time when the Holy Quran is revealed as a guide for all. If others can observe this scene in the Muslim community, they will certainly see the guidance towards communal unity in worship.
Muslims involved in political and social activities must understand this wonder and use it as a basis for building mutual trust, cooperation, respect, optimism and a better outlook towards each other. Ramadan provides a framework for Muslims based on the idea of spontaneous change, beyond the reach of state or institutional power.
If Muslims can renounce the most basic human necessities and maintain complete celibacy without coercion, participating in activities in the service of justice is a small effort in comparison.
Islam does not preach anti-authoritarian anarchism. Rather, it encourages believers to realize their own potential within a larger cosmological framework of self-discipline and an understanding of ultimate divine sovereignty. Ramadan shows that true power extends not from the long arms of temporary governmental power, but from the individual's voluntary acquiescence to Allah's ultimate control over creation.
Therefore, Muslims who observe Ramadan must extend their unity and trust in God to all other months of the year. Ramadan is a living month. It is alive and energizes an otherwise “sleepy” community. The Quran is a living book. It is alive and Muslims should see it as life-giving.
Government power and institutional authority over others are now in competition. But it is not any form of human competition. This is a contender that proves year after year that religion and faith in true power is still alive, despite the claims and scorn of its adversaries.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.