The KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Committee of Peoples and Beliefs issued a statement on the occasion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It emphasizes that the ongoing wars and conflicts in the Middle East are inflicting great suffering on the peoples of the region, and that this process can be overcome not solely through individual prayers, but also through the struggle of peoples for peace, brotherhood, and a democratic society. According to KCK, Muslims should regard the month of Ramadan as an opportunity to seek solutions to the problems facing the peoples of the Middle East.
The KCK statement on Wednesday includes the following:
“The Muslim world is preparing for the upcoming Ramadan fast. Muslims will spend this month, which holds great blessings every day, in fasting and contemplation. As freedom movement, we hope that this contemplation experienced by Muslims will lead to democratic solutions to the problems and difficulties faced by the peoples of the Middle East. We would like to take this opportunity to express our wishes that this blessed month of Ramadan will bring peace, tranquility, and brotherhood to the entire Islamic world. We hope that the prayers of all Muslims, who turn to truth, justice, brotherhood, and sharing through their fasting during Ramadan, will be answered.
The people of the Middle East, particularly in Syria and Iran, are facing the threat of genocide as we enter this year’s Ramadan. The ongoing intense conflict and war are causing great suffering to Muslim communities and the people living in the region. In this sense, while the Kurdish people and the peoples of the Middle East are under threat of genocide, while children are dying of hunger and cold, while women who have been martyred in the war have their hair cut and their bodies thrown from tall buildings, we believe that Muslims observing Ramadan only by fasting will not be accepted in the eyes of Islam. On this occasion, we would like to remind the Muslims of the Middle East to focus more on the problems experienced by the peoples of the Middle East and the Islamic world during this blessed month of Ramadan and produce solutions. We call on the Muslim world to work together and struggle to build a peaceful, brotherly, democratic, communal, and free life for the peoples in the face of the nation-state concept, which is a real threat to our region.
We can heal the wounds inflicted by the wars by developing social peace and building a democratic, communal society. We can compensate for the great suffering and losses experienced by building a democratic society. In this sense, we call on the entire Islamic world to unite around the democratic values represented by Islam and to build a democratic society for the benefit of all peoples living in the Middle East. We invite you to contribute and empower us as long as we are on the same path that will strengthen the unity and solidarity of peoples and reinforce fraternal coexistence. We call on everyone to stand together against the forces that play with all kinds of human values for their own interests, to fight like great believers to develop the democratic unity of the peoples and to realize the construction of a democratic society.
We are in a historical process in which the existence and freedom issues of the peoples of the Middle East, and especially the Kurdish people, are being discussed and solutions sought. It is known that this process will take shape and character for Kurds living in all areas with the development of peace and the construction of a democratic society. The solution developed by the paradigm of the democratic nation for the resolution of the Kurdish question does not only cover the Kurdish question, but also produces solutions to all the problems of the peoples of the Middle East and humanity as a whole. Because of this feature, the paradigm is targeted by the forces that created the capitalist system. In this sense, we call on all democratic, anti-capitalist Muslims to unite around democratic, ecological, and women’s liberationist thinking that produces solutions to the problems of Middle Eastern societies and humanity, represented by the Kurds.
Dear people of Kurdistan,
We would like to remind you that the struggle waged by the Kurds for their right to live freely on their ancestral lands, with their language, identity, culture, and beliefs, is the greatest act of worship. The Kurdish people’s demand for a free life is a right commanded by the Islamic religion. According to the Quran, Islam’s greatest value, resisting those who deny and disregard a people is as sacred as fasting. This Islamic principle imposes even greater responsibilities on Muslim Kurds in the conditions we live in. The Kurdish people, who view living in brotherhood with the peoples of Kurdistan as a moral principle, are faced with the responsibility of organizing themselves in light of the concept of the democratic nation in order to achieve their unity, preserve their existence, and realize their freedom. Working intensively for the realization of the concept of the democratic nation, building and living a free and democratic future for the Kurdish people together with other peoples, and further developing and strengthening democratic organization by equipping oneself with the consciousness of the concept of the democratic nation are important responsibilities.
As a people, the process we are going through sanctifies the fulfillment of our national duties as well as our religious obligations. On this occasion, with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, we call on Kurdish scholars to fulfill their patriotic duties more strongly on the basis of serving our democratic national unity. Scholars and seydas of South Kurdistan, Sufi orders, and communities should know that thwarting the enemy’s intrigues will be achieved through efforts that strengthen national unity. In this regard, they bear greater responsibility in South Kurdistan than in other areas. We want scholars and seydas from Northeast Syria and Rojava to know that they must contribute more than ever to the construction of a democratic society through democratic Islamic jurisprudence. We remind them that they must fight more organized against nationalism, which is used to pit peoples against each other. We expect the Democratic Islamic Congress in northern Kurdistan to develop its own organization to a level where it can assume its historical responsibility for peace and the construction of a democratic society. In eastern Kurdistan, we call on religious leaders to participate in activities that support social struggle and to engage in efforts to resolve social problems caused by regime oppression.
On this occasion, our recommendation to Kurdish Seyda and scholars, imams, as leaders of the community’s faith, is to explain in their Ramadan talks, sermons, and speeches that they must build themselves as a democratic nation in order to achieve the most natural rights of the Kurds. They should discuss everywhere that the development of the Kurdistan Democratic National Union will make the Kurdish people a democratic nation. They should explain the meaning and importance of mobilizing participation in the “Freedom for Rêber Apo, Status for Rojava” campaign.
We call on all Muslims, especially those from Kurdistan, to be more sharing in these difficult times. In accordance with Islam’s moral commandment that “he who sleeps full while his neighbor is hungry is not one of us,” we call on you to focus on greater sharing and cooperation during this month of Ramadan. We ask you to give your fitra and zakat to patriotic institutions so that it reaches the Kurdish people, who are victims of war in Northeast Syria and Rojava, as well as other peoples living in the region. We would like to emphasize that the most appropriate and beneficial approach is to prepare your iftar meals in a modest manner, avoiding waste and unnecessary consumption, keeping in mind the areas of war and struggle, such as Rojava and Rojhilat. We would like to remind you that sharing your iftar meals with those in need, checking on the elderly and sick, and meeting their needs are among the greatest rewards of the month of Ramadan.
We expect all Muslims who identify themselves with the values of the Islamic faith to stand by the just cause of the Kurdish people. We call on them to join the Kurds in their struggle for democracy, to build a shared life, democracy, and freedom with the peoples of the Middle East. Once again, we wish that the Ramadan of democratic Muslims, especially those in Kurdistan, will be a source of blessings, and we hope that their fasts, prayers, and intentions will be accepted.”
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