This Ramadan is different
With the ongoing wars in Gaza and Sudan, this Ramadan is one to be extra thankful for our blessings
A huge hello, Ramadan Mubarak, and ahlan wa sahlan to ‘Eyb after quite a long time! If you recently subscribed, a massive welcome! ‘Eyb is my newsletter where I write frankly about topics that I would be told were ‘eyb or shameful to speak about growing up as a young British Egyptian woman in the Middle East, as well as current affairs affecting women, girls and marginalised communities.
You will remember in my last update that I told you for safety reasons after a certain organisation in America was tracking me, I had to turn my Substack onto private mode. I have noticed lots of dubious emails trying to subscribe to ‘Eyb, but I’ve decided to switch it back to public mode.
Quite a lot has happened in the past two months. I decided to resign from my day job as a marketing copywriter as I could no longer juggle my job and my toddler’s constant sickness from going to nursery. I have now gone back to being a full-time freelance journalist.
I’m also very close to the end of the first draft of my second novel - very exciting! I will need to re-draft it at least two more times before it’s ready.
It’s the second week of Ramadan, and it has been a sombre Ramadan. I think the last time Ramadan felt this sombre was in 2001 after 9/11 happened. I remember as a thirteen-year-old listening to my parents talking and them telling each other that the world had irrevocably changed. And this is how I have felt since October 2023 - that the world has irrevocably changed.
As children, we were taught that part of the reason we fast during Ramadan is to experience a glimpse of what the poor go through, in order to make us grateful for our blessings and enable us to empathise. The real purpose of fasting in Ramadan is to build taqwa, the Islamic principle of God-consciousness. It is like a month-long spiritual bootcamp.
But this Ramadan, as millions of people in Sudan are starving and eating grass and locusts, and hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are starving, eating animal feed and their babies and young children are dying of malnutrition, I finally understand that fasting is indeed a way in which we can experience a tiny drop of what those in war-affected and famine-affected countries are currently going through. The only difference is, we know at sunset we will have clean water and food available to break our fast with. According to the World Food Programme, 25 million people in Sudan never know where their next meal will come from.
I feel sad and ashamed to see some people within the West’s Muslim community still posting photos and videos on social media of their iftar and sohour spreads (iftar is the meal we break our fast with at sunset and sohour is the meal we eat before fasting begins at dawn) when social media users in Gaza and Sudan have openly said they are starving and able to see these posts.
The climate here in Britain has also changed. The British government has been playing all sorts of linguistic gymnastics to link any public support of Palestine with extremism, even though the International Court of Justice declared it found it plausible that the Israeli government and army had committed acts amounting to genocide.
As a visibly Muslim woman (I wear the hijab) I have noticed an increase in the hateful stares I get from white English people while on public transport. Almost every time I go on the bus to Leeds, there is always one aggressive and racist outburst on the bus, and it’s always a white man who looks like he is in his late 20s/30s. It’s especially worrying when you have your two-year-old with you. Is this what my mixed race English-Arab-Asian son will grow up on and see as part and parcel of life in Britain?
If there is one thing I am trying to practise this Ramadan, it’s avoidance of food wastage or eating more than I need to at mealtimes. Something as simple is off-cuttings of fruit and vegetables can be salvaged. What is currently happening in Gaza and Sudan - and elsewhere, Yemen, Syria and Congo - has made me realise what we may throw away is what others would die to eat.
Ramadan is a time where Muslims believe their prayers will be accepted and answered by God. All I pray for this Ramadan is a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and in Sudan.
Donate to Basmat Wasl to support their work in purchasing and distributing food supplies to needy and displaced families in Sudan
I spoke to the founders of Sudanese grassroots charity initiative Basmat Wasl last week, who are working around the clock to find and purchase food supplies, package them into parcels and bundles, and distribute them to needy and displaced families in Sudan. The founders told me that they are running out of donation money and can’t keep up with the rising number of families who are starving and in need of food.
$100 can provide 3 food parcels. Donating is easy, I’ve tried and tested it myself, using the Western Union mobile app. For more information, follow them on Twitter @Basmat_wasl or text the team a message on Whatsapp: +249 11 961 0707.
What I’ve been writing…
For The New Arab
Illustration for The New Arab by Dania K, @cestdania
I interviewed Dr Haya Hijazi, one of Gaza’s few remaining obstetricians, about how the war on Gazans is permanently affecting the sexual and reproductive health of Palestinian women. Read Dr Haya’s fight to save Gaza’s pregnant women and babies.
For last week’s World Book Day, I compiled ten must-read Palestinian books for children. Read 10 books on Palestine to read to your children.
For International Women’s Day, I interviewed three Gazan mothers about the resilience of Palestinian mothers and how they are determined to live life and realise their dreams despite the countless wars they have experienced. Read Celebrating the resilience of Palestinian women and mothers.
For TRT World
With the start of Ramadan, I spoke to Muslim parents in the West about whether or not they think Ramadan has become as commercialised as Christmas. Read Are Western Muslims losing the spiritual essence of Ramadan?
For the Irish Independent
I spoke to Irish Muslims about their plans for Ramadan, and how what is currently happening in Gaza and Sudan is making it feel different. Read ‘Ramadan feels different this year’ - Ireland’s Muslim community on how they will mark their holy month.
What I’ve been reading…
This article in the Financial Times by Heba Saleh, Mai Khaled and Raya Jalebi about the loss of a whole generation of brilliant, clever and promising Gazan professionals. Read The lost future of young Gazans.
An urgent article by Alessandra Bajec in The New Arab about Gazan children dying of starvation and malnutrition. Read Children in Gaza are dying of starvation at a sickening rate.
Journalist and author of Veiled Threat Nadeine Asbali’s op-ed in The New Arab on the silence of mainstream Western feminists in IWD: Why are Israeli soldiers obsessed with Gazan women’s underwear?
Another excellent piece by Nadeine Asbali for The New Arab on how what is happening in Gaza has changed us. Read ‘Never the same again’: What Palestine has changed within us.
An essential read in The Independent by Akeela Ahmed MBE, on the failure of the British government’s Islamophobia taskforce to meet over the past four years. Read I’m chair of the government’s Islamophobia taskforce - we haven’t met in years.
Finally, if you enjoy my work and want to support me, consider buying a copy of my semi-autobiographical novel, Hijab and Red Lipstick, published by Hashtag Press.
Longlisted for The Diverse Book Awards 2021, Hijab and Red Lipstick is a rare insight into what life is like as a young Arab woman growing up in the Arab Gulf. Find it on Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith and Blackwells.
Thank you Yusra 🤍🙏🏻
Great post Yusra, and you’re right we shouldn’t be posting lavish spreads on socials when so many are going without. Thanks for the reminder x