Hearing colleagues or friends say “Happy Ramadan” is such a bittersweet experience for me.

Hearing colleagues or friends say “Happy Ramadan” is such a bittersweet experience for me.

Sweet, because it reminds me of how amazing it is to live in a society that strives to be tolerant, respectful, and inclusive.

Bitter, because for me and many others who grew up under horrendous religious dictatorships, Ramadan also evokes fear, intolerance, and harsher crackdowns, by the religious police.

If you have sweet memories of Ramadan — Ramadan Kareem!

If you have bittersweet, or traumatic, memories of Ramadan — I see you, and send you love.

I’m sharing this to help our beautiful, more tolerant world add more layers of sophistication and understanding to the experiences we try to respect and cherish - to be even more inclusive 🙏🏼 💛