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As you break your fast in Ramadaan, remember the prayer of little Muhammad in Gaza, whose hurting heart and hungry body prays for no more war, no more Genocide, for birds to return to sky of Gaza and not to hear the sounds of genocidal drones.
By IQBAL SULEMAN
Little Muhammad walks amidst the cold winter air in Gaza. Just seven-years-old and orphaned. For one and a half years, his eyes witnessed genocide. He walks alone on the rubble with teary and troubled eyes. He hears a sound above his head. His forehead begins to sweat and his body trembles. Is it another Israeli drone like the one that blew up his house with his parents and grandparents?
It is the first day of Ramadaan in Gaza. It is also the first day after the first phase of ceasefire. For kids around the world, they can’t wait for iftar, the breaking of the fast around the table with loved ones. Not so for little Muhammad and the kids in Gaza. Seventy percent of all the buildings in Gaza have been totally destroyed. There is no shelter. People are living like humiliated slaves in the rubble.
Israel has remained cruel and callous even during the ceasefire and not allowed heavy duty machinery to enable the Palestinians to remove rubble and the 14 000 dead bodies beneath the rubble. Israel brazenly violates the terms of the ceasefire that it committed to. As people shiver without shelter, Israel has not allowed even one of the 60 000 mobile homes entry and only allowed a small amount, less than 5 percent, of the 200 000 tents.
The Muslims in Gaza are forced to fast and freeze in the rubble.
Ramadaan is supposed to be an equalizer but it is not in our world today. Most Muslims around the world, including South Africa will break their fast in the comfort of their houses and mosques. In Gaza however, there are neither mosques nor houses. There is, however, in Gaza faith, love, selflessness and a desire for liberation that is unparalleled and absent in the rest of the Muslim world.
“Oh you who have committed to Allah. Fasting is ordained for you as it has been ordained for those before you so that you might remain conscious of Allah and his power to implement justice”. (Quran, Al-Baqarah, 2:183)
The Creator in the divine writ tells the faithful that fasting is universal. Muslims are reminded that fasting was also ordained for their scriptural cousins and the Prophets and peoples that preceded Nabi Muhammad (SAW). Fasting is directly linked to justice. The purpose of fasting and Ramadaan is to inspire social justice activism across racial, national, religious and sectarian lines.
During this month of Ramadaan, you must deny yourselves the pleasures of earthly existence, food and sex during the daylight hours. This self-denial creates a heightened and refined consciousness. Fasting inspires a person to relate to the oppressed and hungry people. It is not only self-discipline but revolutionary consciousness raising.
No water to drink. Thirsty and hungry. You get irritable and angry at those around you. Now imagine the people of the world who are food insecure, who struggle for food and water every day.
When you break your fast at dusk, think about the children in Gaza who have starved to death and the others who survived but are shivering in the rubble? Starvation is not a tragedy but a cruel weapon of war.
The Palestinians are arguably the most God conscious and God committed people on planet earth. They have sacrificed everything that is dear to them, their children, spouses, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, homes, graveyards, mosques and universities. Amid all of this suffering and sacrifice, they remain firm in their commitment to God and dignified in their resistance to the Israeli Occupation. They fervently pray in Ramadaan on rubble under an open sky.
The Quran calls upon all the people of the world to take a stand in solidarity with the oppressed and occupied people of Palestine.
“And how could you refuse to fight in the cause of Allah and of the utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying. “O our Sustainer! Lead us forth to freedom out of this imperial civic society whose people are oppressors, and raise for us, out of your grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of your grace, one who will bring us support”. (Quran, An-Nisa, 4:75)
Is there a people today more utterly helpless than the men, women and children of Gaza? Except for the iconic martyr leader Hassan Nasrallah (RA), of Hezbollah who willingly chose martyrdom in solidarity with Gaza, and Abdul Malik Al Houthi of Ansarallah, who complied with God’s words and directly intervened on behalf of the people of Gaza, the rest of the leaders in the Arab and Muslim watched and retreated to their palaces and palatial villas.
These verses of the Quran expose those who are responsible for the miserable state of the world and the suffering in Gaza. The rulers of Arab countries within ‘Muslim ranks’ who profess to care for the Palestinians (Erdogan, Al Thani, King Abdullah, Al Sisi, Ahmed Al Sharaa ala Jolani, Muhammad bin Salman) are exposed. They have power as well as an obligation from on high to intervene and help the utterly helpless men and women and children of Gaza but sat back and watched the Genocide. They may don the mantle and the robe or wear suits, but these verses strip them of their ‘pious and progressive garb’ and reveal them to be hypocrites and an extension of imperialism’s political apparatus. They were enablers of the genocide in Gaza. If you can’t take a stand for justice and stand with Gaza, why fast and pray?
Ramadaan should transform every fasting person into a Gazan who feels their pain and suffering within every fibre of his own being and engage in international solidarity activity, resisting Zionism and imperialism, building a strong Palestinian International Solidarity Movement just like the International Anti-Apartheid Movement. Engage in the boycott of all countries, including the Arab and Muslim ones, who have supported the Israeli Occupation and genocide in Gaza.
As you break your fast in Ramadaan, remember the prayer of little Muhammad in Gaza, whose hurting heart and hungry body prays for no more war, no more Genocide, for birds to return to sky of Gaza and not to hear the sounds of genocidal drones.
Suleman is a social justice lawyer and former head of the law clinic for Lawyers for Human Rights in Pretoria and Research Associate: Media Review Network
