News Right Now: Hungriest Place On Earth

We have just celebrated Eid al-Adha, Muslims across the world prepared to honour the legacy of Prophet Ibrahim AS through the sacrifice of Qurbani, a sacred act of devotion, gratitude, and care for the poor. Every year, meat is distributed to families, neighbours, and the needy as a way of sharing the blessings of Allah. But this year, as we carried out this act of worship in peace, we must ask ourselves: what about our brothers and sisters in Gaza? As we portioned out meat for our own communities, Gaza is struggling not for Qurbani meat, but for a single piece of bread.

Gaza has now become one of the hungriest places on earth. After months of brutal siege, mass starvation, and destruction of farmland and infrastructure, famine is not a threat; it is a reality. Mothers are boiling leaves and feeding their children animal food, while infants die from dehydration and malnutrition. Our Ummah in Gaza are not short of faith, courage, or patience; they are short of food and mercy from the world. How did we celebrate Eid in comfort while knowing that just hours away by flight, an entire population is being starved in the name of politics and power? How have we allowed it to get this far?

Recently, aid has been allowed into Gaza with the backing of the U.S. and other Western powers, but the reality on the ground is far from relief. Scenes of desperation have unfolded repeatedly—with thousands of starving Palestinians forced to wait for hours in extreme heat, packed into fenced zones, just for a chance at a small food parcel. People have been seen running after aid trucks, climbing over each other, and collapsing from exhaustion, simply trying to survive. These moments are not signs of effective aid; they are signs of a people deliberately pushed to the brink. What’s worse, these gatherings have been targeted by Israeli gunfire, turning moments of supposed help into scenes of horror. Many of these aid efforts are linked to organizations backed by the occupying regime and supported by foreign military contractors, making the entire process feel like it’s being controlled by those complicit in the suffering. Meanwhile, the very same governments sending limited aid, especially the U.S. have continued to supply Israel with weapons, intelligence, and political cover throughout this genocide. The message is clear: they are feeding the victim with one hand while arming the oppressor with the other.

So we must ask, with sincerity and urgency: how much longer will we allow our enemies to play with our blood and our sustenance? How many more children must starve before we say enough? How many more Eid prayers will we perform while our silence echoes louder than our takbir? The Ummah cannot afford to keep watching and waiting. We must channel our anger into action, our pain into pressure, and our worship into willpower. Let this Eid not only been a day of sacrifice, but a day of awakening. May our Qurbani not only fed the stomachs of the poor but also have awakened the hearts of the sleeping. Ameen!

As we witness the starvation, humiliation, and killing of our brothers and sisters in Gaza, we must remember the words of the Prophet (saw):

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏«مثل المؤمنين في توادهم وتراحمهم وتعاطفهم، مثل الجسد إذا اشتكى منه عضو تداعى له سائر الجسد بالسهر والحمى»

“The believers, in their mutual love, mercy, and compassion, are like one body: if one part of it feels pain, the rest of the body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”(Sahih Muslim 2586)

WE ARE one Ummah, their suffering must shake us, disturb us, and move us to action – May Allah (swt) hasten the re-implementation of the Islamic Khilafah system which spread justice and harmony wherever it was. Ameen

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