Although Ramadan in Egypt is very special, Ramadan, of course, is not exclusive to Egypt. It is easy to think that the cultural trappings of Ramadan which we experience in Egypt are what Ramadan is all about. If you travel to London or Mexico or Kuala Lumpur, however, you will see that Ramadan is celebrated in other ways in other countries, but that the essence of Ramadan remains the same. The essence of Ramadan is not lanterns or special programmes on TV. Nor is it about losing weight or making the kind of resolutions we might make at New Year. Ramadan is about returning to Allah.Taking a moment, though, to think about Islam in other countries might help us to appreciate what we have here at home. There are many thousands of Malaysian and Indonesian students studying in Egypt. All of them are a great asset to their country and their country should be proud of them. You have only to walk around the area of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo to be immediately impressed by the politeness and good manners of the students from Malaysia and Indonesia who have crossed the globe and come to the heart of the Muslim world to learn about Islam. Or you could walk outside the Faculty of Medicine in Alexandria and be equally impressed by the cheerfulness and the serious attitude to study of the many Malaysians and Indonesians who have come to study Medicine in Egypt. Malaysia, for example, has been for some years a model of what a modern majority-Muslim nation might be like. Its charismatic former leader, Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamed, set the bar very high when he talked about a 2020 vision for his country. Such a vision included prosperity, professionalism, hard work and a system that worked. Such a vision would help us in Egypt, too. Standing just across from the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Islamic Arts Museum teaches us something very important about Islam. Opened in 1998, it is not just the beauty and the cleanliness of the modern building which reminds us all of the beauty and the cleanliness which is at the heart of Islam. Nor is it just the professionalism with which the exhibits are displayed which serves to remind us that Muslims are called to be hard working, honest and professional in all that they do. In fact, a visit to the Islamic Arts Museum, the largest in South East Asia, is to take a journey through the Muslim world. What is especially captivating is the way that Islam is presented as a truly universal religion. There is indeed one of the world's largest scale models of the Sacred Mosque in Makkah, as well as jewellery and artifacts from the Arab lands, but the Museum puts Islam within its proper context, reminding us that Arabs make up just eighteen per cent of the world's Muslims. Malaysia's neighbour Indonesia, for example, has more Muslims than all the Arab countries put together. It is a lesson that the Western world needs to be reminded of again and again, that no Arab or Muslim armies ever visited Indonesia and Malaysia. Islam was brought there by honest Muslim traders, whose lives made such an effect on the local people that the locals wanted to be like them. Islam was spread through South East Asia by the good example of Muslims, living good lives and showing that in all things they were seeking to please Allah. What a wonderful way that would be of changing people's attitudes about Islam today! Instead of seeing Islam as a religion of terrorists and fanatics, the world would see it as a religion in which people find complete happiness by submitting to the Will of Allah alone. Muslims in the Arab world, too, would be reminded that there is a lot to learn from Muslims in other parts of the world. Arabs certainly don't have all the answers! The Conference that took place recently, for example, in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, was an attempt to reflect on how Muslims can present the moderate message of Islam to a world deeply suspicious of Islam and Muslims. The Islamic Museum in Kuala Lumpur has twelve galleries. Instead of concentrating most of its efforts, as many similar museums do, on the legacy of Persia and the Middle East, there are also galleries dedicated to China and South East Asia, as well as an impressive gallery which displays the significance to the Muslim world of India. These galleries also reflect the multi-cultural nature of Malaysia itself, which even though it has a Muslim majority of about sixty per cent of the population, is nonetheless home to citizens of Chinese and Indian descent. The building itself is the star. Craftsmen from Iran and Uzbekistan have managed to create tile work and plasterwork of exquisite beauty. The white open spaces and marble floors give visitors the chance to relax and reflect as they wander through other galleries dedicated to Glass & Ceramics, Woodwork, Metalwork, Textiles, Jewellery and Arms & Armour. No Islamic Museum could neglect the influence of the Ottoman Empire on our world or on the artistic heritage of Islam, and there is a beautifully reconstructed interior of an Ottoman Syrian room dated 1820-1821. Space is also used very cleverly by the use of scale models throughout the building, showing mosques from Arabia, Central Asia, China and South East Asia. It is perhaps typical of the professionalism and attention to detail of Malaysia's Muslims that even the Museum shop and restaurant are a joy to behold, excelling most of their counterparts throughout the world. We might learn here in Egypt that restoration and renovation of monuments is important, but it has to be followed up with regular maintenance or everything will go back to what it was. In wishing the Muslims of both Malaysia and Indonesia, then, every blessing of Ramadan on their nation, we can all step back and learn something for our own lives. We have already asked in this article if this Ramadan be for us just another Ramadan amongst many others? Will we have fasted from morning to night for a whole month for Allah's sake and then carry on with our lives when Ramadan has finished as though nothing had really changed? Or will we accept this Ramadan for what it is – a gift. People throughout the world would love the chance to put the past behind them and to make a new start in their lives. They would love to turn a page on past mistakes and try to start living as they know they should. Well, that is the gift which Ramadan offers us. Muslims read in the Holy Qur'an in Surat Al-Ma'idah: “This day have I perfected your religion for you. Completed My favour on you and chosen for you Islam as your religion." 5:3 We can either let the days of Ramadan pass us by, as they often do, reaching their conclusion at the end of the holy month with our fasting and good deeds complete, or we can seize each one of them, taking to heart those words of the Qur'an as if they were being addressed to each one of us today. Maybe if we did that, the mighty powers of this world would sit up and take note of the message of Islam which swept through South East Asia by the example of simple, honest men and women. Let the Muslims of South East Asia remind us all to take time out this Ramadan to think where we, and our own country, are going. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University . The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
