Middle East

Ukraine overshadows Ramadan 2022

Ahead of Ramadan, most Middle Eastern countries have eased restrictions to near pre-pandemic times. However, increases in prices and food shortages due to the war in Ukraine are casting new shadows on the Holy Month. Jennifer Holleis reports

In the run-up to Ramadan, which began on 2 April in most countries, city centres across the Middle East were transformed. Streets and shops have been decorated with the symbol of the crescent moon, lanterns and banners are emblazoned with well-wishing words like "Ramadan Kareem" or "Ramadan Mubarak.".

In Lebanon's capital Beirut, however, much of the decoration on sale for private homes remained unsold this year. "I remember the times when I used to buy decorations for Ramadan and invite my siblings over for a large meal in the evening," said Randa Mohsen, a nurse and mother of four in Beirut. "This year, we can't even afford to pay for our own iftar meal that breaks the fast after sunset."

In order to prepare fattoush, a traditional iftar salad, Mohsen would have to buy ingredients for around €3.60, she says. Given that the family income is around €75, this is simply out of reach. "For us as a family, it doesn't matter whether the pandemic restrictions are removed or not, we don't have money to go out anyways, we can barely afford to eat," she said. "At least COVID-19 was an excuse to stay home."

Almost like 2019

For the past two years, or in other words, since the beginning of the pandemic, Ramadan traditions – such as meeting family and friends for meals after sunset – have been restricted or banned throughout the region. However, as of this Ramadan, only masks remain, as well as occasionally reduced prayer periods and social distancing inside mosques.

"Ahead of this Ramadan, most governments in the Middle East have removed or eased restrictions almost to a pre-pandemic level," Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, a lecturer of Islamic and Middle East Studies at the University of Freiburg, Germany, explained.

The origins of Ramadan: also spelled Ramazan and Ramzan, the month of fasting – one of the five pillars of Islam – is observed by about 1.6 billion Muslims globally. Adults who are physically and mentally healthy are required to not drink, eat or smoke from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of the Koran to the Prophet Muhammad during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar around 1,400 years ago. The word Ramadan derives from "al-ramad" which means intense heat or fire and symbolises the hardship of fasting and the burning of sins

Sheikh Mohammed Abu Zaid, Chairman of the Sunni Court and imam of the largest mosque in Saida, near Beirut, confirmed the new freedom. "In Lebanon, all mosques are open and people are welcomed to gather and pray. Imams are free to ask for social distancing or to request wearing masks," said Abu Zaid. "However, most imams agreed to advise old people and those who have chronic diseases to not attend mosques."

For Ramadan's extended morning and evening prayers in his mosque, Abu Zaid decided to advise the faithful to wear masks.

Problems emerging

And yet, with the end of many pandemic-related restrictions, new problems are casting their shadows on the Holy Month. "Inflation and food insecurity have started to affect many countries in the region at an unprecedented level," Fuchs said.

Egypt, in particular, has suffered from price hikes and a devaluation of the currency ahead of this Ramadan. "We expect Ramadan to be extremely hard as a soar in prices happened just a few days before the Holy Month," admitted Haitham El-Tabei, CEO of the Abwab Elkheir NGO in Cairo.

On Friday, a day before the beginning of Ramadan, around 20 volunteers met in the early hours at the NGO's headquarter in Cairo's Mokattam neighbourhood, to prepare food baskets with meat and dates. During Ramadan, they expect that more families than ever come by and pick up the food donations. "This year, the situation is exacerbated by a decrease in donations and a stark increase of prices," said El-Tabei.

So far, though, the NGO has been able to cover the extra costs. "In such a tough period, we cannot let families down during the Holy Month," he added.

Holy month overshadowed by war in Ukraine: "Inflation and food insecurity have started to affect many countries in the region at an unprecedented level," explains Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, a lecturer of Islamic and Middle East Studies at the University of Freiburg, Germany. This comes on top of searing economic crises, poignantly expressed by Lebanese mother-of-four Randa Mohsen: "This year, we can't even afford to pay for our own iftar meal that breaks the fast after sunset." For fattoush, a traditional iftar salad, Mohsen would have to buy ingredients for around €3.60. With a family income of €75, this is simply out of reach. "For us as a family, it doesn't matter whether the pandemic restrictions are removed or not … we can barely afford to eat"

Crescent moon in Saudi Arabia

Ramadan, also spelled Ramazan and Ramzan, is observed by about 1.6 billion Muslims globally. Adults, who are physically and mentally healthy, are required to not drink, eat or smoke from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. The annual month of fasting and praying is considered one of the five pillars of Islam.

Muslims believe that God revealed the first verses of the Koran to Prophet Muhammad during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar around 1,400 years ago. The word Ramadan derives from "al-ramad" which means intense heat or fire and symbolises the hardship of fasting and the burning of sins.

The exact beginning of Ramadan, however, depends on the first glimpse of the rising moon, and therefore differs from country to country. Traditionally, the day and time are calculated by astronomy experts in the Saudi Arabian village of Hautat Sudair.

In 2022, Ramadan begins on 2 April for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain. In Lebanon, Morocco and Syria, Ramadan begins on Sunday, 3 April.

After two years and in line with most other countries in the region, Saudi Arabia has also lifted most of its restrictions in the run-up to this Ramadan. However, pilgrims are required to wear masks and use either the Tawakkalna or Eatmarna app when signing up for a prayer slot in Mecca and Medina. Using the governmental Tawakkalna apps became mandatory for Saudi citizens during the pandemic.

 

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) developed the app to monitor the movement of citizens during curfew hours. However, Simon Fuchs sees the prolonged mandatory use of these applications as a pretext. "The pandemic has given authoritarian regimes new tools to control their population under the pretext of health," he said.  

Despite its efforts to become a new hotspot for tourists and foreign investment, Saudi Arabia has also been in the spotlight for neglecting human rights and sentencing or killing dissidents – like Loujain al-Hathloul or Jamal Khashoggi – in the past years.

Kuwait and Morocco

However, it is not only Saudi Arabia that is keeping an eye on its citizens, other countries in the region have decided to uphold restrictions and limits. In Kuwait, iftar gatherings remain banned inside and outside mosques. Only distributing free pre-cooked meals is allowed.

And Morocco's government has just extended the ongoing state of emergency until 30 April, due to fears of a new COVID-19 surge, despite current low levels of infection. Moreover, the kingdom has been battling a severe drought and the situation is exacerbated by worries about food security due to the reduction of wheat imports as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

So far, however, the state of emergency ends on 30 April. If not extended, the Eid ul Fitr celebration, which marks the end of Ramadan, could therefore be celebrated with friends and family on 3 May.

Jennifer Holleis

© Deutsche Welle 2022

'There's guilt to feel like we're going to be able to break our fast': Muslims in Canada observe Ramadan with heavy heart, while Gaza slowly starves

Canadian Muslims feel 'disempowered', 'ignored by leaders' as they observe climbing death tolls, spreading hunger in Gaza, Imam says

Ahmar Khan
Updated Tue, March 12, 2024 at 5:09 PM MDT·5 min read

Muslims across the world are marking the beginning of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar year — but it's happening with a heavy heart. Many in the community are struggling to grasp the uplifting spirit of Ramadan while members of the Palestinian-Muslim communities abroad continue to lose their lives due to the Israel-Hamas war, with a climbing death toll, starvation and suffering in Gaza.

“You're coming to this month and you're expecting it's going to be a beautiful with your family and friends. You're gonna break bread and you're gonna enjoy a meal together and it's unavoidable," said Ibrahim Hindy, Imam at the Tawheed Community Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.

The reality is that there are people in Gaza right now who don't have a meal or are dying of starvation. There's guilt to feel like we're going to be able to break our fast at the end of the day and they're not going be able to eat anything.Imam Ibrahim Hindy, Tawheed Community Centre

The month of Ramadan holds special significance in the Muslim religion because it is the month in which the Quran is said to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Throughout the month, for 30 days, Muslims will observe a fast from sunrise to sunset, by refraining from food and water. During the month, they’ll gather more often, especially at night for prayers when the Quran will be recited amidst prayers.

“It's a month of worship and of one that connects us to our faith and our religion,” said Hindy.

During Ramadan, the dinner table is filled with families gathering together at Suhoor, the meal before dawn, and Iftar, the meal after dusk when the fast breaks. From mosques to community halls, local chai shopps to Tim Hortons, many Muslims will gather to eat together.

RELATED: The first day of Ramadan in war-torn Gaza as millions struggle to survive

Randa Baker, Right, who was displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, prepares the Iftar meal with her mother on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan at a makeshift tent camp in the Muwasi area, southern Gaza, March 11, 2024. The holy month, typically a time of communal joy and reflection, is overshadowed by the grim reality of a conflict that has claimed over 30,000 Palestinian lives and left vast swaths of Gaza in shambles. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)More

“There's a social and community aspect because we're fasting. We come together when we break our fast, families eat together and the community eats together in the mosque,” said Hindy.

While the month is often considered celebratory, the current situation unfolding in Gaza has casted a pall of gloom on the community.

“We have the commodity of brotherhood and family that we're gonna be able to spend time with and many of them (in Gaza) have had their entire families wiped out,” he said.

The war, escalated by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has killed over 12,800 Palestinian children, 30,000 Palestinians, and has driven 2.3 million people from their homes in the past 5 months. According to the United Nations, a quarter of Gaza's population is starving, because they cannot find enough food or afford it at vastly inflated prices. While Palestinians are a diverse bunch, many are Muslims, and with Canada aiding Israel’s war on Hamas, and in turn leading to collective punishment of Gazans, Hindy noted it’s tough for the community to simply forget the atrocities during the holy month.

“The lives of Muslims are being devalued and there's always some geopolitical justification given to us as to why we can watch thousands of people being killed and not do anything to stop it.”

Is there a way to stay positive in light of global tragedy?

Volunteer arrange food plates to be distributed among people for breaking their fast during the Muslim's holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

When asked how he tends to lead during this month and what advice he has for congregants at his mosque, Hindy said that advocacy is incredibly important, as is prayer.

“There is this feeling of guilt that a lot of people have. We're trying to reconcile it, to remind people that is a time of worship as well as prayer and a lot of people feel disempowered, and ignored by their leaders,” Hindy said.

Hindy said it’s been an ongoing discussion of how to thread the needle to ensure that people in the mosque and community are having their needs met, while also centring those suffering abroad in Gaza. At his mosque, there have been conversations on what to do with money typically used to feed the community and provide meals for Iftar, versus sending money to organizations helping in Gaza.

I think there's this balance of how do we be in solidarity with oppressed people and still build our strength within our local communities. Charting that path is not always easy.Imam Ibrahim Hindy Tawheed Community Centre

But Hindy believes with Ramadan underway, the month will allow Muslims to grieve together where the pain is widespread amongst the community.

“When we come together as a community, it's just a reminder for ourselves to be steadfast in standing up for what's true and seeing what is right. We're able to to feel strength in numbers and the strength in our brotherhood and sisterhood and together we can support each other against the difficulties put on us by the outside world,” he said.

Ramadan starts on March 11 and runs for at least 29 days until the crescent moon is sighted to begin a new lunar month in the Islamic calendar.

Photos: The first day of Ramadan in war-torn Gaza as millions struggle to survive

Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY
Tue, March 12, 2024 

A Palestinian boy waits for an "iftar" meal, or breaking of fast, on the second day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 12, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.


The Holy Month of Ramadan began all across the world on Monday for Muslims, including millions struggling to survive in Gaza.

Palestinians in Gaza began fasting for Ramadan as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continued after ceasefire negotiations failed. The start of a month of fasting, spirituality, and reflection began with widespread starvation, violence and food insecurity in Gaza.

More than 95% of the 2.3 million people in northern Gaza are facing a food insecurity crisis, and food trucks and resources have faced challenges getting into Gaza.

Here's what the first day of Ramadan looked like across Gaza.

Palestinian citizens perform Tarawih prayers on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan on the rubble of Al-Huda Mosque, which was partially destroyed by Israeli air strikes on March 11, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. The United States and other nations mediating Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks had hoped to reach a temporary truce prior to the start of the Islamic holy month, but recent meetings in Cairo did not produce a result. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation remains dire in Gaza, with foreign nations proposing new ways to increase aid deliveries, such as the creation of a temporary port.More

The Palestinian Al-Naji family prepare to break their fast during the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan sitting amid the ruins of their family house in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

A Palestinian woman sits at a camp for displaced people backdropped by the minarets of a mosque, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Palestinian children carry traditional "fanous" lanterns in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on the eve of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on March 10, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

What is Ramadan?: Muslims set to mark a month of spirituality, reflection

Palestinians share an iftar meal, the breaking of fast, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Randa Baker, right, who was displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, prepares the Iftar meal with her mother on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan at a makeshift tent camp in the Muwasi area, southern Gaza, on March 11, 2024. The holy month, typically a time of communal joy and reflection, is overshadowed by the grim reality of a conflict that has claimed over 30,000 Palestinian lives and left vast swaths of Gaza in shambles.More

Displaced Palestinians collect food donated by a charity before an iftar meal, the breaking of fast, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

When is Ramadan?: Muslim holy month and Eid al-Fitr dates to know for 2024.

Palestinians pray before breaking the fast on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Displaced Palestinians collect food donated by a charity before an iftar meal, the breaking of the fast, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

‘Our state is not your church.’ Arlington, Texas, lawmaker faces backlash over Ramadan vote




Elizabeth Campbell
Thu, March 23, 2023

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican, is facing criticism on social media after he posted that he voted against a resolution to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Tinderholt said in a statement posted on his Twitter account that as a combat veteran, he served alongside many translators who were “Muslims and good people.”

“I can also attest that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during every deployment.”

“Texas and America were founded on Christian principles and my faith as a Christian prevents me from celebrating Ramadan. I want to commend Dan Patrick for choosing not to join the House in this celebration.”

Ramadan, which began Wednesday night, is a time of fasting, prayer and reflection for Muslims throughout the world. It is one of the most significant holy months in the Muslim calendar when it is believed that the prophet Muhammad received the Quran from God.

Tinderholt voted in support of resolutions commemorating Ramadan in 2021 and 2019.

Tinderholt did not respond to requests for comments from the Star-telegram on his vote against the resolution to celebrate Ramadan. But during an interview Friday on the Mark Davis Show on 660-AM The Answer, Tinderholt said he is “finally taking a stand against the left and Democrat chairs who are forcing celebrations of LGBTQ days and religious holidays.

“To celebrate and compel us to do so, it’s just a little bit over the top, and someone has to take a stand, and look, it’s not a comfortable stand. I’ve got over a half a million people attacking me on Twittter right now, but I’m OK with it. We’re doing the right thing. When we’re doing the right thing and the left is mad, it’s OK.”

Davis asked Tinderholt about the sentence in his statement that said that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during his deployment.

Tinderholt said most Muslims are peaceful. “They are a very gentle religion. They are a very kind culture, but the fundamentalists in the Muslim world use the religion during Ramadan to ramp up and do attacks against Americans and infidels and kill innocent people. Now, let me be clear. As Muslims, that is not the average person it’s a small fraction that do this so quit telling me that I have to celebrate this time.”

Tinderholt also said that the left and the Democrats are trying to force someone to celebrate something when they’ve had a bad experience during that specific holiday every year.

“They’re always trying to force us to celebrate their side, their thing ...” he said. “Every person is an individual, and my personal story is that Ramadan, when I was in combat, was never a very peaceful time.”

Some who criticized Tinderholt on Twitter asked if crime also occurs during the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter. Others asked about the separation of church and state..

One person wrote, “That’s a shame that you cannot embrace enlightenment as the founders did and celebrate some of the principles of our country, tolerance and religious freedom. Too bad. Our state is not your church.”

“As a Texan, I’m embarrassed you hold power in my state,” another wrote.

The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned Tinderholt’s opposition to the resolution.

William White, director of the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a news release that Tinderholt’s claim that Ramadan is the most violent time of the year is false and insulting to the Muslim community.

“Every elected official has the right to express their sincerely-held religious beliefs, and we welcome that — but insulting and insinuating false information about another faith should be condemned,” he said.

Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Democrat from Euless, wrote a similar resolution celebrating Ramadan. It states the month is a time for spiritual reflection, charitable giving and open houses at mosques to welcome people of other faiths.

Bhojani was elected in November as one of the first Muslims and south Asians to serve in the Texas House.

“I was sad and disappointed to see Representative Tinderholt’s statement today,” Bhojani said in an emailed statement. “Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, self-discipline, and acts of kindness and generosity for Muslims across the world. Any description of this holy month other than this is a mischaracterization of a religion of love that millions of people share.

“The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught, ‘None of you has faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.’”

Bhojani is also championing freedom of religion legislation that would expand the list of optional state holidays and prevent state exams from falling on religious holy days. During a news conference last month, Bhojani said his first priority is to safeguard protections “not just for my faith, but for every faith in Texas.”

Texan smeared two faiths — including his own — with pathetic vote against Ramadan honor | Opinion

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board
Fri, March 24, 2023 

Arlington Republican Rep. Tony Tinderholt ran for speaker, the top spot in the House, this year. He got smoked, 145-3.

But the race to the bottom? He may already have that one locked up.

Tinderholt was among a handful of Republican representatives to vote Wednesday against a resolution honoring the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the first fast-breaking dinner scheduled for the Capitol in association with the holiday. He was the only one to go out of his way to put on the record why he did it — and in the unmistakable language of religious bigotry.

“Today, I voted against a resolution made in celebration of Ramadan on the House floor. As a combat veteran, I served beside many local translators who were Muslims and good people,” Tinderholt said in a statement he had included in the House Journal and later repeated on Twitter. “I can also attest that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during every deployment. Texas and America were founded on Christian principles and my faith as a Christian prevents me from celebrating Ramadan.”

It’s quite a trifecta: blaming an entire religion for wartime violence, shutting out any constituents who don’t share Tinderholt’s faith and diminishing Christianity’s ability to co-exist with other religions.

All that over one of hundreds of resolutions the House will vote on with little or no controversy. They don’t amount to endorsing a religion, or a winning sports team, or whatever the subject is.

Done right, they celebrate something great about our state, small or large. They bring otherwise sparring legislators together to shine the spotlight on their constituents. Among the other resolutions considered Wednesday were honors for Realtors, residents of Buda, Pearsall and Val Verde County.

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington

Six other Republicans voted no on the Ramadan resolution, including Rep. Lynn Stucky, the Denton Republican whose district also includes Wise County. Unlike Tinderholt, Stucky didn’t go out of the way to make a historical record of his bigotry … er, opposition.

No, Tinderholt took the extra step to insert into the House Journal his official stance and pitiful explanation. And in so doing, he slandered an entire faith practiced by millions of loyal Americans — and bruised the view of his own faith in the process.

The fifth-term Arlington lawmaker wants you to believe that his vote represents some bold strike for Christianity. But no sensible person confuses a resolution honoring a sacred time for hundreds of thousands of fellow Texans as some betrayal of any other religion.

And, it turns out, Tinderholt’s streak of self-righteous pomposity — if real — is pretty new. He said nothing about resolutions honoring Ramadan that the House passed in 2019 and 2021, according to House Journal entries.

Perhaps his faith has deepened. Or perhaps, having lost the speaker vote so terribly and facing even greater irrelevance as a lawmaker, his only political option is to double-down among bigots who would applaud standing in the way of extending such a basic recognition to a diverse array of Texans and their interests.

Tinderholt tried to explain himself Friday to conservative radio host Mark Davis (a Star-Telegram contributor). With his usual bluster and incoherence, he first said it was the consequence of having Democrats as committee chairs.

The decades-long bipartisan tradition of including the minority party in governance of the House is a sore spot for some Republicans. The resolution’s author, Houston-area Democratic Rep. Suleman Lalani, is no committee chair. He moved for a vote on his resolution — a common step to ensure resolutions are heard in a timely manner. More than 135 of the House’s 150 members assented. (Later Wednesday, Lalani briefly presided over the House, as most members have the honor of doing at some point. That does not make him a “Democrat chair.”)

Tinderholt then told Davis that he was “done with the left trying to force us and compel us” to celebrate topics such as LGBTQ rights. It sounds like his fatigue may actually be driven by frustration over pretending to represent any constituents who aren’t like him. Perhaps the voters in House District 94 should relieve Tinderholt of this burden next time he asks for their votes.

 

Ramadan Fasting

Less is more

by Eric Walberg / March 25th, 2024

Ramadan (Arabic: رَمَضَان, Ramaḍān, Ramadhaan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which the Quran is believed to be revealed to the prophet Muhammad

Quran 20:81 Eat of the good things We have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein.

Fasting is good for you. Very good. Josh Mittledorf, in Cracking the aging code: The new science of growing old and what it means for staying young, 2016, estimates he’s added a decade, a good, healthy decade, to his life with his regime, which includes a weekly fast from 10pm Wednesday to 8 am Friday, when he only drinks water. He has figured out other ways to trick his mind into operating in its highest metabolic mode, but the main thing is the fast. Fasting has long been a spiritual exercise to quieten the body’s incessant desires for petty satisfactions, real world distractions.

It is of course the no-brainer way to lose weight, but the marvel, paradox, is that for all living creatures, reducing consumption to just above starvation guarantees better health and longer life.

Couch potatoes end up flabby, insulin-resistant, chronically sicker as they age, awaiting a pathetic last stage in life where death is arguably an improvement over pain and self-loathing. Which brings me to the other secret, paradox, of longevity. Exercise. And lots of it, every day making sure you’ve pushed yourself to the point of feeling your blood pumping. Forget about antioxidants. If you put your body engine into low gear, it can deal fine with them.

Exercise produces lots of antioxidants, but top athletes have longer, healthier lives by specialising in manufacturing them! You damage your muscles in hard exercise, but that’s good damage, damage that your body is honed to repair and does so eagerly when you give it the optimal conditions (hot, sweaty), growing back stronger, preparing for the next battle.

Indian sages do just fine with meditating, no exercise, but lots and lots of fasting. John Oakes, in The fast: the history, science, philosophy, and promise of doing without (2016), argues that fasting acts like a metaphor, withholding, sacrificing, to open you up to compassion, creation, ‘the real work’ or real purpose of our mind-body, allowing room for something else to happen besides the incessant preparing for and indulging in consumption. At his substack, Douglas Rushkoff ponders the sense of emptiness, nonbeing, even death, that fasting suggests. ‘You lose the sense of inside/ outside, of duality, replaced by an existential oneness.’

Oakes likes to have a partner, a shared community, for his week-long fasts. Which brings to mind the famous hunger strikes by such as Bobby Sands and his fellow IRA prisoners under the cruel hand of Thatcher. And which mostly fail to ‘move the mountain’, but inspire others in the common struggle, and as a bonus, extend your life (as long as you don’t starve to death).

Mittledorf, Oakes and Rushkoff are secular Jews, dabbling in Buddhism and yoga, and more or less dismiss religion in their fascination with Nature’s paradoxes. Buddhism is a belief based on nonattachment, ‘no preference’, in life, the way to get beyond the world of ‘I’ll eat or be eaten.’ By taking eating out of the equation, you can get beyond the dog-eat-dog mentality. You leave room for ‘food for thought.’

What’s with the paradoxes? Look at our cliches. Food for thought, no pain – no gain. They are true! Good pain. Bad pain. We are beings of qualia. Good-bad is built into our genes, into our universes. And what’s good for the goose is usually good for the gander. When it comes down to it, there is very little separating one individual from another, except his/her community, and the individuals there are also much the same. Our bodies and minds need stress, good stress, to make the body react to our endeavours as well as possible, to give us ‘good’ individuality.

Ramadan

Catholics used to fast moderately in Lent; a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. No meat, but fish Fridays.¹ This fasting regime is not much good for revving up the mind-body’s long-life mechanism. Paul VI opened the floodgates in the 1960s, making even this fasting optional.

The religion best known for its ‘pillar’ of a whole month of dry fasting from sunrise to sunset is of course Islam. It takes its cue from Judaism, the founding monotheism of which Islam considers itself the updated form. Devout Jews do the dry fast for one day, the Day of Atonement. Rushkoff says that Jews mistakenly think that the fasting is a kind of punishment, atonement. But that is a false view. Fasting is hardly a punishment, but rather a time of clearly the mind of material desires, and opening it to spiritual concerns, atoning for your sins.

Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. But if a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during Siyam [fasting], then Allah does not care if he abstains from food and drink.² No room for the hypocrite. The only gambling allowed is your wager on which night during the last 10 days is the most holy, the one commemorating the first revelation: When Lailat Al-Qadr comes, Gabriel descends with a company of angels (may Allah bless them all) who ask for blessings on everyone who is remembering Allah, whether they are sitting or standing.³ It’s worth a thousand months’ worth of rewards in a singular eve.

But many Muslims, like many Jews, mistake the means for an end. You don’t go to heaven just for fasting, but for using the opportunity, one month each year, to clear the mind, to get a glimpse of jannah, where there is no need for material nourishment, where ‘fasting’ has prepared you to nurture your existence on the spiritual level, without the daily grind of consuming.

Another problem in Ramadan time is that ‘less is more’ is fudged. Yes, you starve a bit each day, but after sunset, watch out for the constant eating, visiting, eating, … to the point that for many, more calories are consumed during the month than at other times of the year. Poor Muslims love Ramadan as they get many more opportunities to gorge, eat meat, than normally. Fair enough, but the better-off Muslims forget about ‘less is more’ too. A shame that for many Muslims, Ramadan lost this precious paradox of Nature.

When the first night of Ramadan comes, the devils and mischievous jinn are chained up, and the gates of Hell are closed. The gates of Paradise are opened.⁴ You’re fasting so can’t sin in daytime, and after eating and night prayers you’re exhausted. Ramadan is for spiritual enlightenment, renewal, replacing daily food with daily food for thought. Fasting as a secular has no clear goal other than physical fine tuning, so why not make it a spiritual quest? It’s not only our bodies, but our mind-bodies that are corrupted by consumerism and money-grubbing.

Ramadan is about cleansing the slate of sins, refusing them for a month (at least in daylight), showing thanks for the blessing of life and the bounty of Nature, showing generosity to the less fortunate (there’s always someone ‘lower on the totem pole’), humility before it all. There isn’t enough backbone in the secular version to attract more than a tiny intellectual elite. Ramadan is for the masses.

Clashes of civilizations

I used to pondered why the Muslim world was so ‘backward’, not using the knowledge, inventions it had produced and happily bequeathed the capitalist nations, up to the 16th c—knowledge is respected and considered a gift to all from God. Of course, the Muslim world has been corrupted by industrial capitalism, imperialism. Consumerism in the profane world is now the number one concern of almost everyone.

The West gladly took/ stole Muslim knowledge and then turned it against not just Muslims but all those outside the West, first occupying the Muslim (the whole) world, setting up West-friendly systems beholden to the West, and bequeathing Muslims a western consumerist lifestyle, which unfortunately includes Ramadan, which is now more about feasting and family than spiritual growth. Muslims spend more during Ramadan on everything from gifts and clothes to food and even cars. In the Middle East alone, last year’s Ramadan spending was worth over $60 billion.

A positive development from this mixing of cultures has been the new celebration of Ramadan in the secular West. In Austria this week, more than 1,000 people came together for an “open iftar” in the state of Carinthia, where all community members are invited to break the Ramadan fast and eat together — even if they’re not Muslim and haven’t fasted. Last year, thanks to its Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, London became the first large European city to decorate its streets (Piccadilly Circus, Coventry Street to Leicester Square) with Ramadan lights. Frankfurt am Main followed London’s example this year, becoming the first big German city to set up Ramadan lighting.

Some Muslims are upset about the commercialization of Ramadan. Conservative clerics have argued that non-Muslims shouldn’t partake at all, while far-right Europeans believe the practice will lead to the end of civilization as they define it – the Great Replacement conspiracy.⁵ And some social media personalities who fasted during Ramadan, treating it as a kind of online health challenge, have been called out for cultural appropriation.

This year has witnessed a new attraction to Ramadan, to Islam, as Palestinians heroically die under Israeli bombardment and forced starvation. A growing number of young, progressive western women are converting to Islam, citing the Israel-Hamas war as motivation for the conversion – and they’re documenting their journey on social media. They identify the awesome courage of mothers carrying the corpses of their infants, murdered by the Zionist regime, and share their personal journey on Tik Tok, or did until it was abruptly shut down. (I wonder why?) Megan Rice detailed the Palestinians’ “ironclad faith” in wake of the war, now wears a hijab, having founded the virtual World Religion Book Club.

Despite the sorry state of the ummah now, I still suspect that not taking the western aggressive, exploitative road was the right choice. What has happened to the West in the past three centuries? Two horrendous world wars, with another on the horizon. A constant and recently precipitous decline in morality and religion, not to mention incalculable destruction of Nature. Preserving Islam means rejecting war, materialism, consumerism, which are destroying the world and ourselves, with a mad rush to overproduce, overconsume ’till the cows come home.’

I’ve been using this Ramadan to ponder a counterfactual history, where the West didn’t succeed in adopting industrial capitalism, where inventions like Chinese gun powder remained for entertainment rather than war, where algebra and astrolabes are used to unite the world peacefully, not through conquest. Inventions would continue, but would be used in a ‘good’ way, unlike, say, the first airplane, which was quickly adapted to fire machine guns, and to carpet bomb Muslims almost as soon as it was invented. Central to Islam is that man should not exploit man. So no usury, no assembly lines. In as much as these principles are more and more sidelined, Islam is weakened.

Mittledorf, Oakes, Rushkoff are secular in their quest for a longer healthier life, though they admit there is another reality that fasting can help us reach. They are secular Jews, atheists, so they are ‘above’ religion, so well-educated and independent that they don’t need religion, unlike the rest of us. For us, religion is essential to a moral order, to give us backbone, or rather to strengthen that religious backbone that we are endowed with.

Ramadan is a time of giving, sharing. Not taking, consuming. The best way too feel good is to give. To get a glimpse of a higher reality through channeling, purifying our emotions, our highest evolutionary trait. Cultivating our ‘good’ tertiary emotions: (guilt, shame, selflessness, self-respect), we can even help a pet dog or parakeet feel some of these higher emotions, cultivating their senses.

As for the Ramadan fast and aging/ health, just remember ‘less is more’. After a day of exhausting emptiness, it doesn’t take a lot to pacify the growling stomach. Keeping the body from satiety lets the body’s higher level maintenance regime kick in, hopefully extending your life for at least another Ramadan or two.

So why doesn’t the body automatically work at top speed to keep us alive and well as long as physically possible? Well, that appears not to be the be-all-and-end-all in Nature. We have ignored that and worked to create ‘science’ to keep us all alive at all costs. And where is that leading us? We have broken the chain(s) of evolution, where misbehaving populations have collapsed countless times in the past. Quran 29:40 So We seized each people for their sin: against some of them We sent a storm of stones, some were overtaken by a ˹mighty˺ blast, some We caused the earth to swallow, and some We drowned. Allah would not have wronged them, but it was they who wronged themselves. Welcome to 2024.

It’s as if your body-mind rewards you for being good (to it), for paying attention (to it), taking care (of it), which means you’re probably taking care of others too, as you can’t really love yourself till you love others. The ‘way’ of Islam is to fight the inner shaitan, the lower nafs [self], so you are always in dialogue with your mind-body. So with shaitan locked up for the month of Ramadan, less is more. You are in a noble dialogue with your mind-body and God.

Catholic fasting is gone, Buddhism lite is the choice of the secular elite, but Ramadan remains the bedrock of Islam. Muslim countries don’t seem to be any better than secular ones when it comes to waste, consumerism, but if we can renew the original meaning of Ramadan, it fits with Nature’s silver bullet, ‘less is more’, where we look to ‘food for thought’ more than a bigger Whopper.

ENDNOTES

• 1
  Jesus was warm-blooded but fish are cold-blooded.
• 2
  Hadith al-Bukhari.
• 3
  Miskhat al-masabih.
• 4
  Hadith narrated by at-Tirmidhi.
• 
  

Eric Walberg is a journalist who worked in Uzbekistan and is now writing for Al-Ahram Weekly in Cairo. He is the author of From Postmodernism to Postsecularism and Postmodern Imperialism. His most recent book is Islamic Resistance to Imperialism. Read other articles by Eric, or visit Eric's website.

Opinion: Intersecting of religions' holiest times shows much in common

Daniel Kuhlen - Yesterday
Leader Post


© Provided by Leader Post

Eid Al Fitr prayers mark the end of Ramadan at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, June 4, 2019.


What is Ramadan? It is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, the month of fasting and, for Muslims, a time of deep spiritual contemplation, reflection, renewal and recommitment.

The Five Pillars of Islam are: The Shahada, the declaration of faith; Salat, prayer; Sawm, fasting during Ramadan; Zakat, the obligatory annual payment of 2.5 per cent of one’s excess wealth for the sake of the needy; and undertaking the Hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca, once in a lifetime for those who are able.

Why do Muslims fast? It’s simple: Allah (God) tells Muslims in the Holy Qur’an that fasting is prescribed for us, as it was for the peoples before us, to help us draw closer to our Creator. For Muslims, it is a sacred obligation and a practice undertaken for the sake of Allah alone.

The most well-known feature of Ramadan is the practice of dawn to sunset fasting over the course of 29 or 30 days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next (a lunar month). During Ramadan, observant adult Muslims, in the absence of contraindicated medical or health reasons, do not consume any fluids, including water, or any food or other nourishment during the proscribed hours.

Ramadan is often viewed by non-Muslims as a harsh and arduous undertaking, one of self-deprivation and rigid denial. To be sure, Ramadan does require effort, self-sacrifice and discipline as, despite daytime fasting, Muslims are expected to carry out their normal day-to-day activities as far as reasonably possible.

However, fasting is the means to, not the end of, Ramadan. It reminds us of the millions everywhere who lack sufficient food and clean water and basic essentials, teaching us compassion, patience and empathy, and also of our total reliance on Allah, who alone is self-sufficient.

As such, at a deeper level, Ramadan is approached by Muslims with feelings of humility and introspection, as well as profound happiness and gratitude; another precious opportunity to draw closer to our Creator, both spiritually and practically.

Consequently, during Ramadan, in addition to fasting, Muslims also emphasize greater engagement in prayer, the remembrance of Allah, giving in charity, showing kindness toward others and conducting ourselves with an elevated intention as we recognize our total dependence on our Creator.

Given the annual advance of Ramadan through the solar calendar, as the lunar calendar is about 10 days shorter, Ramadan 2022 coincides with both the Christian Lenten season, and the celebration of Easter, and the Jewish observance of Passover.

It is noteworthy that, during a time of much upheaval and division here and elsewhere, the followers of these three monotheistic religions, comprising approximately 4.3 billion people, almost 55 per cent of the 2022 global population, are all experiencing their most sacred and spiritually profound religious celebrations during the same month.

We have much more in common than we realize.

Muslims in Saskatchewan and around the world hope and pray that Ramadan 2022 is a time of deeper spiritual growth, understanding, and peace for all.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Daniel J. Kuhlen is co-chair for the media, communications and outreach committee with the Islamic Association of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon) Inc.

Opinion

A Ramadan of resilience: Faith in a world on fire

(RNS) — Ramadan is not meant to burden us with grief, but to show us what to do with it.

Palestinians take part in Friday prayers in the ruins of the Omari Mosque, which was partially destroyed by Israeli bombardment, ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Omar Suleiman
February 28, 2025

(RNS) — Ramadan, which begins Friday night (Feb. 28) for most people, is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, a time of fasting, prayer and reflection observed by nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide. From before sunrise to sunset, we abstain from food, drink and intimacy — not as a test of endurance, but as an exercise in spiritual renewal, discipline and empathy. It is a month that teaches patience in hardship, generosity in abundance and trust in something greater than ourselves.

Muslims around the world will spend these 30 days drawing closer to God, seeking forgiveness and purifying their hearts through prayer, charity and acts of kindness. But Ramadan is also about community and humanity. It reminds us that we do not exist in isolation, that our struggles are interconnected and that faith is meant to be lived not just in devotion, but in service to others.

Ramadan begins this year as Muslims are living in a world seemingly on fire. In Gaza families are still mourning their dead, hunger is being used as a weapon of war and entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. The fragile ceasefire in the war, now in its second phase, is already being violated by Israel, which refuses to relinquish control of the Philadelphia Corridor — a critical border region along Gaza’s southern edge.

Ramadan arrives with cries of hope in the midst of this destruction, and yet past Ramadans have always seemed to see escalations in Israeli aggression. In the few years before war broke out in 2023, the month saw attacks on Palestinian worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased violence across the occupied West Bank. Airstrikes on Gaza have intensified during past Ramadans, as have mass arrests and restrictions on Palestinian movement.

RELATED: Why Ramadan is called Ramadan: 6 questions answered

This is not a pattern of coincidence. It is a deliberate attempt to break the spirit of a people, to take a time meant for peace and turn it into a season of grief. And yet, every year, Palestinians endure. They fast through bombings and stand in prayer through raids. They continue to hope, even when the world tells them not to.

This year, as Israel continues to act with impunity and with President Donald Trump signaling a return to the most extreme policies of U.S. support for Israeli expansion, the situation feels more dire than ever. But while Trump openly speaks of ethnic cleansing while posting strange AI videos that seem to posit him as a God of Gaza with a golden statue, Palestinians remember that God controls Trump and everything else at the end of the day.


Muslim men use water to perform the ritual ablution before the “Maghreb” (sunset) prayers at the end of the fasting day during the holy month of Ramadan, along the side of the road of the Jazeera State highway in the village of al-Nuba, about 30 miles south of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, Friday, April 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

In Sudan, too, the devastation of war continues, but with little global attention. The conflict has displaced millions, pushing families into famine, cutting off access to aid and forcing an entire generation into survival mode. Unlike Gaza, Sudan never seemed to have its moment of mass solidarity. It was forgotten before it was ever fully recognized. As a result, Sudanese Muslims enter Ramadan in a state of suffering that few outside their own communities even acknowledge.

Muslims in the Western world also begin this month in the shadow of rising hate. Islamophobia is once again on the rise, fueled by far-right politicians, inflammatory media rhetoric and the criminalization of Muslim activism — especially for those who speak out in support of Palestine. Many students, workers and public figures who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza have faced backlash, with some losing their jobs or being blacklisted for simply advocating for human rights.

In Europe, governments have continued a decadeslong push to police Muslim identity, passing laws restricting religious clothing, surveilling mosques and limiting expressions of Islamic faith in public spaces in the name of security, but in a pattern that suggests an attempt to silence and erase people.

Ramadan is not meant to burden us with grief, however, but to show us what to do with it.

The act of fasting is not simply about hunger. It is about solidarity. When a person intentionally refrains from food and drink, they join the reality of those who fast because they have no other option. Every growl of the stomach becomes a reminder that in Gaza, in Sudan, in refugee camps across the world, there are families who will go to bed with the same hunger — not knowing when, or if, it will be relieved.

The long nights of prayer that define Ramadan are not simply a religious ritual. They are an act of surrender in a world that often feels too broken to fix. They are a reminder that even as injustice runs rampant, as war and oppression seem endless, there is a higher power that sees what is hidden, knows every pain and will bring justice in ways beyond human comprehension.

Charity is not simply encouraged in Ramadan; it is required. Giving to those in need is not an act of generosity, but a responsibility. Wealth is never truly our own but a trust given to us by God, meant to be used in the service of others. This is why, in Ramadan, millions of Muslims across the world will donate to humanitarian efforts, sponsor meals for the poor and provide aid to those affected by war and displacement.

And the Quran, the book we hold to be the word of God, is not meant to be read for its recitation alone. It is meant to be lived. It calls on believers to stand for justice, to defend the oppressed, to reject tyranny in every form. In a world where those in power distort truth to justify war and occupation, the Quran reminds us that truth is not something that can be erased by propaganda or silenced by violence. It endures.

Like last year, this Ramadan will not be a particularly easy one. But it will be a meaningful one. This month we are called to witness the suffering of our brothers and sisters and to respond not with despair, but with faith. Not with helplessness, but with action. Not with silence, but with steadfast conviction that no oppression lasts forever.

Ramadan teaches that with hardship comes ease and that the trials of today are not the end of the story. Just as we replenish ourselves at the end of the day when our bodies have been depleted, we know that when the end comes for all we will break our fast together in a feast that exists away from this world.

May this month purify our hearts, strengthen our communities and bring justice to those who need it most. May our fasts remind us of the hungry, our prayers of the oppressed, our charity of the destitute and our recitation of the Quran of the eternal call to truth. And may we emerge from this month renewed — not just in faith, but in our commitment to a world that reflects the justice, mercy and compassion that Ramadan was meant to instill in us all.

Swiss court acquits Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape, sexual coercion

A Swiss court on Wednesday acquitted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape and sexual coercion, finding no evidence against the former Oxford University professor.

Issued on: 24/05/2023

03:18 Swiss leading Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan arrives at the Geneva court house on May 24, 2023, to hear the verdict of his trial for "rape and sexual coercion" in a case dating back 15 years. 

Text by: NEWS WIRES

The academic was also awarded around 151,000 Swiss francs ($167,000) in compensation from the Swiss canton of Geneva over the case.

After the verdict was read in the Geneva Criminal Court, the 60-year-old Swiss preacher smiled and was hugged by one of his daughters.

Ramadan's 57-year-old accuser, identified under the assumed name of "Brigitte", left the courtroom before the end of the verdict.

Her lawyers immediately vowed to appeal the ruling.

Prosecutors had last week called for a three-year sentence against Ramadan. The case was the first time he has been tried for rape, although he risks facing a trial in France on similar charges.

The Swiss trial presented two diametrically opposed versions of what happened in a Geneva hotel room in October 2008.

The lawyer representing Brigitte, a convert to Islam, said she was repeatedly raped and subjected to "torture and barbarism".

Ramadan, a charismatic yet controversial figure in European Islam, rejected the charges, insisting there was no sexual activity between him and Brigitte, and saying he was the victim of a "trap".

Brigitte was in her forties at the time of the alleged assault in 2008. She filed a complaint 10 years later, telling the court she felt emboldened to come forward following similar complaints filed in France.
'Ramadanphobia'

Both parties agreed that Ramadan and Brigitte spent the night together in the hotel room, which she left early the following morning.

Ramadan insisted that Brigitte invited herself up to his room, then let herself be kissed, before quickly ending the encounter.

The indictment accused Ramadan of sexual coercion and of committing rape three times during the night.

During the trial, the defence insisted on Ramadan's innocence and stressed there was no scientific evidence in the case.

His lawyers also accused Brigitte and the women who have brought charges against him in France of forging links to bring down the Islamic scholar, citing "Ramadanphobia".

During his final statements in court last week, Ramadan asked not to be tried on his "real or supposed ideology" and urged the judges not to be "influenced by the media and political noise".

"Forget I'm Tariq Ramadan!" he said.

Controversial among secularists who see him as a supporter of political Islam, Ramadan obtained a doctorate from the University of Geneva, with a thesis focused on his grandfather, who founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement.

He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford until November 2017 and held visiting roles at universities in Qatar and Morocco.

He was forced to take a leave of absence when rape allegations surfaced in France at the height of the "Me Too" movement, over suspected attacks between 2009 and 2016.

(AFP)

With war in Gaza, American Muslims plan Ramadan of protest and activism

'Ramadan is not the month of taking a break or relaxation. It is a month of action and organization for us as an organization and as a community,' said an activist. 'We hope Ramadan will be a reinvigoration of the work we have been doing over the last five months.'

Palestinians pray in front of a mosque destroyed by the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, March 8, 2024, ahead of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

 (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

March 8, 2024
By Rhonda Roumani

(RNS) — Every weekend during the month of Ramadan for the past six years, tens of thousands of Muslims have flocked to Dearborn, Michigan, to attend a late-night Suhoor Festival, named for the meal eaten before the daylong fast starts during Ramadan.

From 10 p.m. until 3 a.m., the festival’s attendees, who will fast from food and water once the sun comes up, spend the pre-dawn hours eating and drinking with family and friends from specialty food trucks and shopping in the warmth of vendors’ heated tents. The joyous occasion has become a hallmark of Dearborn life, where more than half the residents are Arab Americans.

But this year, in light of the war and starvation taking place in Gaza, as well as Muslim-majority countries such as Yemen and Sudan, the organizers of the festival have scaled it down, rebranding it as “Suhoor for Humanity.”

“This year, we are not looking to be festive, but to bring people together for a good cause,” said Ali Sayed, owner of Hype Athletics, a youth center in Dearborn Heights where the rebranded event will take place. A handful of food trucks and vendors will be on-site, but organizers are focused on raising money for three charities that provide aid to Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon, which is currently facing a devastating financial crisis.

RELATED: Once marginalized, New York’s Muslims celebrate growing political influence on Muslim Day

They are also hoping to add spiritual and religious speakers to their roster of events this year. “We are hurt and devastated by the atrocities taking place in Palestine, and the city as a whole is hurt and torn by it all, especially with the lack of trust and support by our government.”

As Israel’s war on Gaza enters its sixth month, Muslim Americans are struggling to make sense of the level of death, destruction and displacement that has befallen Gaza, with more than 85% of the population forced from their homes and more than 31,000 Palestinians killed, according to local authorities, including an estimated 13,000 children.


Protesters rally near the White House demanding a permanent cease-fire and end to U.S. funding to Israel, on Wednesday, March 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

They are angry, too, at President Joe Biden’s and other American politicians’ slowness in calling for a cease-fire or even initially in acknowledging the loss of life. Many have stopped watching mainstream media and instead are livestreaming graphic images posted by Palestinian and other citizen journalists, which have left them feeling raw and demoralized.

“People are crying, trying to make sense of it all,” said Hanan Hashem, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at William James College in Boston and a community educator at the Family & Youth Institute, which focuses on mental health among young Muslims. “They’re finding it very difficult to function, very difficult to show up in class, to pay attention, to finish their assignments, to have conversations with their coworkers, to show up to meetings.”

Hashem, whose family hails from Yemen, said the closer they are to people in the conflicts, the more trauma they suffer and the harder it is to know how to respond.

The holy month of Ramadan, experts say, might be arriving just as these Muslims need it most. The most sacred time of the year, Ramadan is a time for reflection and deep prayer, and mosques are often buzzing with people gathered to recite the Quran. It is also a time to highlight Muslim values of selflessness and philanthropy and of unity: Besides refraining from food and drink, Muslims are to abstain from fighting and gossip.


Hanan Hashem. (Courtesy photo)

These disciplines tend to focus participants on their spiritual goals. Hashem and others have been looking to popular imams to explain how to use Ramadan’s time of discipline and prayer to turn Muslims’ empathy for those caught in the war zone into action.

“Ramadan is not the month of taking a break or relaxation. It is a month of action and organization for us as an organization and as a community. We hope to gain more from the momentum of Ramadan,” said Taher Herzallah, director of outreach and grassroots organizing for American Muslims for Palestine. “We hope Ramadan will be a reinvigoration of the work we have been doing over the last five months.”

Since October, Herzallah, whose family is from Gaza, has lost nine close relatives to the war. Family members who have survived so far have been detained and stripped naked. His elderly aunts, he said, are “stuck in a starvation apocalyptic scenario.”

Yet Herzallah said the war has inspired a level of activism beyond any he’s seen in 15 years as an organizer. Muslim groups have led and organized mass protests, organized national phone bank trainings and urged city governments around the country to adopt cease-fire resolutions. Pro-Palestinian campus groups have reignited boycott Israel movements, and Muslims have been instrumental in convincing Democratic primary voters to mark their ballots “uncommitted” as a show of protest against Biden’s pro-Israel stance.

Over the last few months, AMP has also organized national marches, built coalitions with non-Muslim groups to shut down highways and demonstrated outside military suppliers’ offices and factories.

Taher Herzallah. (Photo courtesy American Muslims for Palestine)

“I’ve never seen it where old khaltos (aunts) in the community are calling to ask me, ‘If we protest at the mall, will we get arrested?’” said Herzallah. “My kids even went to a kids’ protest for Gaza. Never seen this level of engagement from all segments of our community.”

Some of their activism in recent weeks has been oriented toward Ramadan. As it is traditional to break their day’s fast by eating the Middle Eastern fruit dates, following a practice of the Prophet Muhammad (Muslims are major consumers of dates in the United States), American Muslims for Palestine’s annual campaign to boycott dates grown in Israel is getting a “huge response” this year, said Herzallah.

Activists are also using Ramadan worship and other gatherings as venues to reach Muslims. AMP is sending people to 29 mosques across the country during the Taraweeh, the late evening prayers that draw Muslims to their mosques during the month, to talk about Palestine and the work that they are doing.
RELATED: Jerusalem Palestinians prepare for Ramadan amid holy month’s uneasy politics

Hashem believes the war has caused Muslims from different racial and ethnic groups to bridge their cultural divides. “Muslims are paying more attention to the ways that a lot of our oppression is connected,” she explained. “People are paying attention to Congo,” referring to fighting between armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that has devolved into indiscriminate violence against the Muslim minority. “People are paying attention to what’s happening here in America towards marginalized communities.”

In New Haven, Connecticut, Salwa Abdussabur, a Black Muslim, is the founder of Black Haven Arts and Culture, an art and activism collective that released a statement in late December denouncing “the ongoing atrocities and genocide unfolding in Palestine.”

Now Abdussabur is hoping Ramadan will inspire the Muslim community to channel its spiritual power for change. Since taking a phone bank training with Celebrate Mercy, an Ohio-based Muslim charitable and educational organization, she has joined with CT Muslims and Friends for Palestine, a TikTok group of Muslims of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, to make daily calls to public officials, advocating for peace in Gaza.

. “This is a month of miracles,” Abdussabur said.