By Ahmed Kateregga Musaazi
In the early seventies, there was an Eid day that corresponded with I think, either Christmas or Easter.
According to my late step mother who was a product of Muslim and Christian grand parents the coincidence was a double merry making at their home in now Kyotera District. I however have thin memory whether it was Eid El Fitri (Feast of breaking fasting) or Eid Al Adhuha (Feast of Sacrifice or even whether the Christian holiday was Christmas or Easter.
But in 2000, Eid El Fitri was cerebrated on Boxing Day although on Islamic lunar calendar, it had been marked on Christmas.
Likewise, Muslims have started fasting in the sacred month of Ramadhan, the nineth on Hejira lunar calendar, at the time when Christians are also observing 40 days of Lent.
The main purpose in both Abrahamic religions, is both spiritual/ moral and physical/ material cleansing or renewal.
Judaism and Bahaism, other Abrahamic religions, have similar periods for fasting or some form of it.
l am not sure whether African Traditional Religion also has such a period. But, for Luganda language to have a word “ekisiibo,” a period of fasting shows that pre Islamic/ Christian Buganda and Africa generally, had such periods.
l am reliably informed that the Inter Religious Council of Uganda is soon admitting Budhists. Next time, it could be Hindu.
Unlike Hindu which is exclusively Hindi (Indian), Budhism which started in India by Budha Gautama spread in south and east Asia up to Japan, and has set foot in Uganda where it is recruiting indigenous Ugandans.
But if Bhudists are admitted in the Inter Religious Council, even Ugandan African traditional priests and priestresses should be admitted because Uganda is constitutionally a secular state with no state religion.
Back to Ramadhan and Lent, Uganda and the rest of the world are struggling to recover in a post lockdown over a Covid 19 pandemic where fuel and other commodity prices have escalated and there is a need for sharing
Let us please share the limited resources we have for survival of humanity but also mindful of other creatures, by protecting environment and wild life.
We should use the sacred season for national reconciliation. Happy Lent and Happy Ramadhan.
Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists should be law abiding citizens all be physically involved in fighting poverty and should embrace poverty alleviation programs like Emyoga at a constituency level and Parish Development Model so that all of us stop subsistence farming ot working from hand to mouth and we go commercial, preferably intensive and mixed.
The writer is a veteran journalist and Deputy Resident City Commissioner for Masaka City.
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