Ramadan Lessons for Our Leaders

It’s another Ramadan season! Bangladeshi Muslims last Monday joined their counterparts all over the world to observe a month-long fasting – one of the five obligatory pillars of Islam. Essentially, the fasting Muslims, in total submission to the injunctions of Allah, abstain from food and drinks from dawn to dusk. They also shun all forms of vices such as injustice, immoral behaviour, dishonesty, indiscipline, hatred, and impatience and embrace the virtues of justice, honesty, moral uprightness, decency and kindness, while also acquiring the attributes of strong will, restraint and self-discipline.
It is not as if Muslims are expected to exhibit these virtues only during the fasting period. Indeed, those attributes are parts of the essential teachings of Islam as in other great religions, and strict adherence to them is enjoined at all times. It is just that special emphasis is placed on these qualities during this period as, it is believed, rewards for good deeds come in manifold quantum in the month of Ramadan.
The vices, which the fasting Muslims are enjoined to eschew, are some of the veritable roots of multifarious problems, which have truncated the socio-political and economic development of the country despite its abundant human and natural resources.
But the fasting period brings out the best of our humanness as it provides an opportunity for moral rebirth, doing good to others, helping the poor and the needy, purification of faith and general strengthening of belief in Allah.
Beyond this traditional significance of Ramadan fasting, however, are the deeper lessons for all and sundry, especially our leaders whose actions or inactions, conducts or misconducts could bring general happiness and well-being or sorrow and misery for the people, as well as glory or disrepute for the country in the comity of nations.
Therefore, the fasting period should be an occasion for our leaders to reflect deeply on their covenant, their social contract with the people whose votes put them in power. Are they living up to the billing of the responsibility thrust on them? What efforts are they making to make life more meaningful and more bearable for the generality of the people? How are they ensuring the poor does not compulsorily subject themselves to non-obligatory fasting for most part of the year?
Indeed, the Ramadan fasting should provide an impetus for our leaders to have a complete change of attitude towards governance in general. The attributes of kindness, of selflessness, of sharing and caring, and good conduct are key lessons of Ramadan capable of making our society a better place for everybody to live in. Greed and graft, which has characterised governance in many public offices are not attributes taught by the holy books.
During the fasting period, every Muslim, rich or poor, leader or led, master or servant, young or old, male or female experience the same kind of hunger and thirst at the same time. This makes it easy for the conscientious leaders to empathize with the poor, having tasted for a whole month what the poor go through on a daily basis. This should also make the leader see the need to alleviate the suffering of the masses as a categorical imperative in all their activities. That, of course, is the primary reason why the leader was elected to the position of authority – to serve the people and make life worth living.
While wishing all Muslims a spiritually fulfilling and abundantly rewarding Ramadan, we urge our leaders to reflect on its socio-moral lessons and let these reflect always in their lives, especially in their activities in government. This is the minimum requirement for good leadership towards a better society.