15 Ramadan 1443

Last night, I completed reciting the 15th juz.

It begins with the chapter on the Night Journey to Jerusalem:

سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ

And like last Ramadan, Jerusalem is in my newsfeed.

Again, images of Palestinian worshippers gathering to pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa are in my newsfeed.

Again, NPR, CNN, the New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, and Haaretz notes that Israeli police stormed the sanctuary and opened fire with stun grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets, and baton beatings and that Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks.

Haaretz also reports 50,000 Muslims, at least half from the West Bank, gathered to pray in the sanctuary after the violence subsided.

That was not in my newsfeed.

Again, the Ukraine and questions about Tigray and Yemen and Afghanistan and Syria and everyone relegated to that category of people expected to live in a state of violence are in my newsfeed.

Again, Passover and Easter – events marking liberation and resurrection – converge in Ramadan, the month of revelation.

Again, I read Maryam wishing she were not alive once she felt the pain of her contractions.

Again, the full moon will begin to wane, marking the beginning of the end of sacred time.