“During Ramadan do not engage in fasting, vigils or other religious activities”

Every year for 30 days, millions of Muslims around the world participate in what is known as fasting -during the month of Ramadan. Many see this as a difficult and daunting task, but we Muslims find it to be the most spiritually cleansing and uplifting time. Some, however, do not get this opportunity.

It has become sort of customary for China to put out a ban on fasting at the start of Ramadan every year. Mainly in the Muslim-dominated region of Xinjiang, a minority in China. The ethnic cleansing of Muslims is factually stated in my first post titled “Modern Day Holocaust”. This is a goal that China wishes to attain in the near future. For China’s atheist-communist ruling party, this is just one of the “less-torturous” steps taken to reach this goal (in relation to the concentration camps they are running of course).

As part of this ban, they have ordered all Muslim-owned restaurants to remain open throughout the duration of Ramadan. This means that the families who own these businesses will not be able to go home to break their fast and perform their prayers on time.

Upon hearing about this ban, the first question that came to my mind was “So if someone wants to practice their religion without potentially being sent to a concentration camp, they would have to pretend that they’re not a part of that religion?” And to me that just seems like the most absurd thing. Having to hide your religion to survive?

Since hearing about the treatment of Muslims in China, I always wondered why no one was talking about it. Or doing anything about it. Is it again because the media feels Muslims are not worthy? It is 2019 and yet we are still allowing this Hitler-like dictatorship to be a part of the way in which a country is run. This begs the question of whether the world has actually changed since then, or has society just become better at ignoring these issues?

“When we speak to Uighurs here they tell us they feel Muslims around the world have abandoned them”

-Hena Zuberi, director of outreach for the non-profit Justice For All

People say, ‘Oh, I can’t boycott China, everything is made in China’

Thankfully there is a group of Muslims in the U.S. that is raising awareness about this “Modern Day Holocaust”. Muslim organisations and human rights groups are urging all U.S. Muslims to boycott products made in China. This is something we, as South Africans, can take from these activists. We need to realise how much these markets benefit off from us and if we continue to support them then change will never come.

No matter how big or small, change needs to happen. Now. The Muslims of Xinjiang should not feel as though the world doesn’t care, or that they are not worthy enough. What gives us the right to decide which lives are worthy and which is not.