Editor’s note: The following is a submitted letter to the editor from the Islamic Society of Kingston, regarding the month of Ramadan. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Kingstonist.
Over half of the month of Ramadan 2024 (1445 A.H.) is completed. This Ramadan is both the same and different than Ramadan 2023 (1444 A.H.) for the Muslims in Kingston.
As we fast in devotion, we reflect on those who are less fortunate than us. We correct our character as best as we can with deep reflection, prayer, and guidance. That is unchanging from Ramadan to Ramadan.
What is different this year is the level of conflicts where hunger is increasingly being weaponized. As Muslims during Ramadan, we fast from dawn until sundown, and we are reminded intimately of the effects of hunger and thirst on us as individuals, families, and communities. We are reminded to be grateful for the food, water, and many other blessings that are readily available to us. Even those who require help in Canada can be provided for in security and without being attacked while collecting desperate aid.
Whether in Sudan, Gaza, the Occupied West Bank, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Yemen, Somalia, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Mali, Haiti, Iraq, etc., there are those that use hunger as a weapon against the most vulnerable through destruction or blocking access to basic needs. This is abhorrent and must be condemned. Indeed, we have amongst the Canadian population people who have experienced this firsthand and are descended from generations past who have experienced this and came to Canada because of it.
The Muslim community in Kingston, and across Canada, is also representative of dozens of ethnic backgrounds from around the world, and are intimately connected to some of these conflicts. Some are here because of them.
The Muslim community in Kingston is fasting and remembering that we are required to feed others. In the Quran 76:8, “and they [people of paradise] give food, despite their love for it, to the needy, and the orphan, and the captive.” These are also the modern Laws of Armed Conflict and agreed upon humanitarian rules. So, as we continue during the last half of Ramadan, we encourage ourselves first and our Kingston community to give back to those around us, our human family.
Support charities like food banks. Muslim community members are running a program to help local food banks (Kingston – Partners in Mission Food Bank — GIVE 30) and help others who are in need. Others are giving charity to international organizations such as the Muslim Charity – Donate Zakat & Sadaqah | Islamic Relief Canada and the The United Nations Refugee Agency in Canada | UNHCR Canada.
Ramadan Mubarak,
Islamic Society of Kingston
Share your views! Submit a Letter to the Editor or an Op/Ed article to Kingstonist’s Editor-in-Chief Tori Stafford at [email protected].
