Welcome to the fifth episode of Beyond The Fast, a series that explains Ramadan for more than its stereotypes! Today, I need to speak honestly, not just about fasting, but about injustice, and the rampant hypocrisy we see around us in regards to regions such as the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
Every night, I break my fast with comfort, warm food, family, peace. But I can’t stop thinking about those who fast with fear. In Palestine, families break their fasts under rubble, with explosions shaking the night. Often maybe not even having food to break their fast. In Yemen, children sleep hungry, while blockades strangle any chance of survival. In Sudan and Syria, people flee their homes, fasting in tents with no certainty of tomorrow.
What hurts more is not just the suffering itself, but how easily the world turns away from it. We live in a world where western governments preach human rights, freedom, and democracy but only when it fits their interests. They defend democracy in one country while funding bombs in another. They shed tears for certain victims, plastering their faces on the media, yet ignoring those who don’t fit their narrative. They dictate who to care about and who to forget.
When war breaks out in places like Ukraine, we see immediate calls for compassion, fundraising, and support, and completely rightly so, as it is a crisis that deserves our attention. But when Palestinians are bombed in their own homes, the same voices go silent, or worse, justify the violence. Why? Because the oppressor is an ally, and suddenly, human lives become calculations. Innocent people become collateral damage, worse of all children become statistics.
The hypocrisy goes deeper. Western interference has destabilized entire regions in the Middle East for decades, through wars for oil, overthrowing governments, and sanctions that punish civilians, not leaders. Then, when people flee the chaos the West helped create, they’re called threats. The very people whose homes were destroyed are met with closed borders and cold shoulders.
This Ramadan, I’ve been thinking to myself to how do we respond to this double standard? The first step is not to turn away. To not to accept this selective empathy. We cannot let governments or media tell us whose pain is more important. We have to humanize those the world dehumanizes, to see Palestinians, Yemenis, Sudanese, Syrians, and so many others as real people: those with dreams, families with love and laughter, all forced to live in fear because the powerful decide their lives are now less important.
I’m writing this not to make you feel helpless, but to remind all of us that reflection during Ramadan means more than personal growth. It means opening our eyes. It means praying not just for ourselves, but for justice for all in a world of suffering. It means sharing what we know, speaking out, donating if we can, and most importantly not accepting silence.
Thank you for reading Episode 5 of Beyond The Fast. I hope you sit with this discomfort, as I do. Ask questions, challenge what you hear, and stand beside all and any injustices. Whether you fast or not, choose to care.
See you next time for more truths and reflection.