For Muslims, Ramadan is a month of worship, service, community gathering, and spiritual growth. Yet for those in countries such as Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen, this month will be marked by violence, bloodshed, and starvation.
While some of us will be spending Ramadan with a selection of meals to choose from, others are struggling to find any source of food.
While some of us will be visiting the mosque each night for Taraweeh prayers, historic mosques are getting destroyed across the globe.
While some of us will be adorning our bodies with henna, others will be covered in blood from the relentless bombings and shootings they face.
The United Nations (UN) reports that at least one-quarter of Gaza’s population (over 550,000 people) is one step away from famine. UN humanitarian coordinator Ramesh Ramasingham has stated that one in six children under the age of two in northern Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition.
At least 20 people have died from starvation in northern Gaza, with the youngest being a 14-day-old baby and the oldest a 72-year-old man.
In Gaza, fasting is not a choice. It’s something imposed upon them through the Israeli blockade of aid trucks and the defunding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the largest supplier of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The constant buzz of warplanes hovering over Lebanon and fears of airstrikes and further escalation are plaguing Ramadan for Lebanese Muslims.
The deep economic crisis, mixed with political turmoil, has made it impossible for Lebanese citizens to afford essential foods. Over 90,000 individuals from southern Lebanon have been displaced, 306 people killed, and 820 people wounded as a result of ongoing Israeli attacks.
As the panic of a full-scale war looms, Ramadan cannot be celebrated as usual.
In Yemen, a humanitarian catastrophe has gone on for almost a decade, leaving 18.6 million people in dire need of assistance. With the World Food Programme’s suspension of food distribution to Yemen, millions of people will be left hungry.
American and British airstrikes have also contributed to worsening an already grim situation.
With the start of a war less than a year ago, the Sudanese people are facing death, displacement, hunger, an economic crisis, and a declining health system.
Half of Sudan’s population is in need of life-saving assistance, 18 million people are acutely food insecure, and the country is witnessing the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, with nine million people displaced within the country.
People have resorted to selling all their belongings in hopes of obtaining just one meal as aid trucks have been stuck in Port Sudan for weeks. Many have died from starvation as the UN Security Council scrapped an assistance mission, where operations ended two weeks before the start of Ramadan.
So, as we break our fasts this holy month, let us remember the stark contrast between the realities of Muslims living in the West versus those in the global South. While we will begin and end our fasts with an abundance of food and water in the comfort of our own homes, amongst our families, for others, the feeling of hunger never goes away, and the threat of violence remains constant.