Palestinians take part in Friday prayers in the ruins of the Omari Mosque that was partially destroyed by Israeli bombardment, ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City Friday.
Associated Press
After losing more than 200 close and extended family members as well as friends and neighbors in Gaza, William Asfour, of LaGrange, says he feels a greater sense of responsibility to help raise awareness this Ramadan about the plight of Palestinians.
He is not the only one beginning the Islamic holy month of fasting, prayer and charity Saturday with a heavy heart — but also hope.
Suburban Muslims join a global community of faithful collectively observing Ramadan, much like last year, weighed down by the unrelenting horrors and mounting casualties from the nearly 17-month Israel-Gaza conflict that has cast a pall over what traditionally is a spiritually uplifting period.
Community leaders say the message this Ramadan is to continue advocating for peace while calling attention to the humanitarian crisis, and raising hands in prayer for Muslims suffering not only in Gaza, but locally and in other parts of the Islamic world.
“Going into Ramadan, we are always thinking about our family and loved ones overseas,” said Asfour, a 28-year-old Palestinian American from Gaza who lives with his parents and three siblings. “Most of my family is actually in Gaza — the ones who have survived. This year, they are in tents outside of their destroyed houses, waiting for aid and reconstruction to happen.
“We continue to spread awareness for them. We always have them in our prayers.”
William Asfour is a 28-year-old Palestinian American from Gaza now living in La Grange.
Courtesy of William Asfour
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed vast areas of Gaza. The war was sparked by an Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. Now, a fragile ceasefire deal that paused the fighting between Israel and Hamas is nearing the end of its first phase.
Two months into the start of the war, Asfour’s maternal grandparents fled besieged Gaza seeking refuge in neighboring Egypt. They made it out in December 2023, but Asfour’s grandfather died in January 2024 due to conditions of the siege that prevented access to health care, he said.
“He had white phosphorous in his lungs,” Asfour said doctors in Egypt told him.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented the use of white phosphorus in Israeli military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, which is restricted under international humanitarian law.
Asfour, who attends The Mecca Center in Willowbrook, said beyond imams making sermons about Gaza and leading collective prayers for peace during Ramadan “we also (must) take it upon ourselves to spread awareness on social media.”
“We expect people to be more conscious about what is going on,” he said.
Emphasizing charity
Mohammed Kaiseruddin, chairman of Zakat Chicago, a committee of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
Increasing charitable giving — a hallmark of Ramadan and one of the five pillars of Islam — is another way mosques and nonprofit groups are urging the faithful to channel their support toward ongoing global humanitarian crises, such as in Sudan, Syria, Yemen and the persecuted Rohingya in Bangladesh and Uyghur community in China.
“In Ramadan, people become more generous,” said Mohammed Kaiseruddin, chairman of Zakat Chicago, a committee of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “There are crises going on in many places in the world and Muslims are really focused on not just one crisis but multiple crises. The real story … is the enthusiasm that people show in the month of Ramadan.
“ … Fundraising is being done in every masjid (mosque) not just for one cause of Gaza … there’s a lot of prayers every night, and especially on special nights there’s long prayers done for peace and security,” Kaiseruddin said. “We cannot give up hope. There will be time periods when God will test us, individually and collectively. If we have the iman (faith) we don’t give up. We will survive and God will change our condition.”
Healing through faith
Dr. Muhammad Abdulgany Hamedeh of Burr Ridge, chairman of CIOGC and past president of Syrian American Medical Society Midwest Chapter.
Amid the suffering, it is important to remember that Ramadan is a month of spiritual elevation and healing and one of the most blessed periods of the Islamic calendar, says Dr. Muhammad Abdulgany Hamedeh of Burr Ridge, chairman of CIOGC and past president of Syrian American Medical Society Midwest Chapter.
Starting Saturday, observant Muslims begin a 30-day period of fasting, abstaining from food, drink and sensual pleasures from predawn until sunset. Meanwhile, they are flooded with appeals for aid to feed the growing multitudes of displaced people globally without access to food and water.
“The Muslim community is the most generous. We try to always help our brothers and sisters whether here locally or abroad,” Hamedeh said. “We all know that why we fast is so we can feel the pain and hunger of other people, so we humble ourselves. We try to feel what they feel and try to help them as much as we can.”
Ramadan is a time to maximize one’s good deeds by helping those less fortunate, whether it is refugees around the world or migrants sheltering in the suburbs. It’s also imperative to support and protect the institutions serving Muslim and other communities from being attacked in a divisive political climate, Hamedeh stressed.
The generosity of Ramadan is manifested in treating all people with respect and maintaining human dignity, Hamedeh said.
“We should be the source of goodness for all the people around us … and let this Ramadan be a witness for that.”
A Palestinian vendor displays lanterns ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City Friday.
Associated Press
Palestinians shop for provisions ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City Friday.
Associated Press
