Around the Islamic world, clergymen and heads of state have urged Washington to halt its military campaign in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan to avoid alienating Muslims.
But as ordinary Muslims ready for the holiday, it appears their nightly Ramadan feasts will be as sumptuous as ever, TV dramas as lively and shopping as busy even though bombing could well persist through the holy month.
As Ramadan nears -- it begins tomorrow or Saturday, depending on the sighting of the new moon -- the attacks in Afghanistan are not the main focus for most Muslims, though many say they will remember the Afghans with prayers and donations.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"What more can I as an individual do? If I changed my Ramadan routine, how would that affect the Afghans?" said Aziz Eid, a 21-year-old Kuwaiti university student. "I'm against this war, but it's the duty of governments to take action."
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whose strong backing of the US campaign has aroused angry protests in his Muslim nation, has urged US President George W. Bush and other Western leaders to ease the attacks during Ramadan.
So far US officials have not hinted at a letup in the war on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers who are protecting Osama bin Laden, the suspected plotter of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the US. Arab and Muslim opinion-makers expressed varying ideas of the impact of US bombing during the month of daytime fasting.
Mufti Mohammed Younus, an influential cleric in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, said that he expected donations for Afghans to increase and anti-US protests to continue -- but not intensify.
"We will appeal to people to give money, clothes and medicines for their impoverished Afghan brethren," Younus said.
In the mainly Muslim state of Jammu-Kashmir in neighboring India, newspaper columnist Ali Imran said if the bombardment persists through the month, "it would further strengthen the belief that it is not a war against terror but against Islam."
Ramadan marks God's revelation of the Koran, Islam's holy book, to the prophet Muhammad nearly 1,400 years ago. Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex during daylight hours in an act of sacrifice and purification.
The month is a time of introspection and prayer. But families and friends also gather each night around a rich, fast-breaking meal that begins with dates, juice and soup and ends with sticky sweet desserts.
In the United Arab Emirates, American-based fast food chains are introducing dates and special soups as part of an "all you can eat" Ramadan menu.
"We expect better performance this year," said Amro Hammouda, area manager for Hardees in Sharjah. "There was a boycott of American chains last year."
The boycott was in support of the Palestinian uprising and against Washington's backing for Israel. This year, however there have been no calls for a boycott.
In Kuwait, shoppers chose Ramadan specialties such as California prunes, Turkish apricots and Iranian figs. In the last 10 days of Ramadan, children dressed in traditional robes go "trick or treating" Kuwaiti style, getting rewards of nuts and candy for singing a special Ramadan song.
In Lebanon, chief Shiite Muslim cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah warned that "if this war continues, particularly during Ramadan, this will lead to many complications in the relationship between the world's Muslim peoples and the US administration."
Still, Ramadan tents are being set up in Lebanon, although the all-night dancing and singing that once accompanied Ramadan meals have been toned down after complaints that the revels were un-Islamic.
In Malaysia, hotels and country clubs have Ramadan buffets, where observant Muslims line up with their plates as dusk nears, awaiting the signal to break their fast. Expressions of solidarity with the suffering Afghans have been confined mostly to donations of food, clothing and money.
In Egypt, restaurants along the Nile River are advertising special Ramadan menus and vendors are peddling traditional Ramadan lanterns. The elaborate, six-sided lanterns are traced back to the lights carried by peasants a thousand years ago to guide the caliph as he went outside to look for the crescent moon signaling the start of the holy month.
Kuwait's Al-Qabas daily asked whether Egyptian television would show the usual Ramadan dramas -- which usually are broadcast in other Arab nations, too -- even if the shows are interrupted by news bulletins announcing the deaths of Afghans in the US air strikes?
In fact, Egypt's state-run television has prepared a smorgasbord of Ramadan offerings, including about 10 dramas with the usual scenarios: love triumphs, the corrupt fall and the traitors are caught.
Among the Muslim communities in the African state of Zanzibar and Tanzania, there appears to be much resentment against the war, but little impact on Ramadan preparations.
Hamad Rashid, 52, a scrap metal dealer with two wives and eight children, expressed sadness over civilian deaths and said more American bombs dropping on Afghanistan would only create a more violent society.
Jordan appears to be the only Arab country likely to have a low-key Ramadan to express solidarity with Afghans, as Jordanians did last year to show sympathy for the Palestinian uprising.
Jamil Abu-Baker of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood movement said his group's Ramadan program would feature preaching in mosques and a stepped-up campaign to collect aid for Afghanistan.
"It will be a gloomy month because of all the atrocities committed against Muslims," he said.
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