Eid Mubarak in a world on fire, at war

Amidst the bombings, bombardments, fiery explosions, bomb sheltering and the daily dread that stalks civilians from Gaza to Tehran, from the Red Sea to the refugee camps of the Levant, one billion Muslims have spent this Ramadan fasting in the shadow of war. Multitudes of Muslims among the world’s one-billion community are keeping the faith, keeping hope alive and staying alive – a grim rhythm of a holy month [that] continues to unfold under existential threat. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has attended many Ramadan iftar (fast breaking) gatherings over the years, is expected to deliver his traditional Eid Mubarak message once the crescent moon is sighted and formally confirmed by the mullahs.

Muslims across South Africa, amid prayers and penitence, are fasting and waking up to the news of the horrendous wars. South African Muslims with family, relatives and friends in bomb-ravaged Iran have been cut off completely in communication. One father in Johannesburg went on national TV to express his anxiety and fears for his daughter stranded in Tehran and his extended family members.

And yet, as the crescent moon prepares to rise, a different kind of light breaks through the smoke. Eid Mubarak arrives not as a festival untouched by suffering but as a global insistence that joy, dignity and belonging will not be extinguished — not by missiles, not by hatred, not by the politics of annihilation. This year, that message has been carried most powerfully by two cities thousands of kilometres apart, each led by a Muslim mayor, each choosing illumination over fear: London and New York.

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London: A city that lights the sky — and the soul: London has done something extraordinary. While much of the world sinks deeper into division, the British capital, renowned for its massive Christmas Day celebration and spirit, has turned its West End into a radiant Ramadan landmark — a canopy of more than 30 000 LED lights stretching from Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square. London’s Ramadan lights have become one of the most striking annual expressions of multicultural pride – this is no longer a novelty.

It is a civic ritual. Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan — the son of a Pakistani bus driver, now in his historic third term — switched on the lights before crowds of families, tourists and community leaders. He recalled childhood memories of visiting Christmas lights with his parents, marvelling that London now celebrates Ramadan with the same pride.

The symbolism is unmistakable: British Muslims are no longer spectators beneath someone else’s festive glow. They walk beneath lights that reflect their own sacred calendar.

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