Imam Khalid Latif

Imam Khalid Latif is blogging his reflections during the month of Ramadan, featured daily on HuffPost Religion. For a complete record of his previous posts, click over to the Islamic Center at New York University or visit his author page, and to follow along with the rest of his reflections, sign up for an author e-mail alert above, visit his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

It's really sad and surprising to me how the world is watching what is happening daily in Syria and not really doing anything about it.

For those who are unaware, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Syria and hundreds of thousands have become refugees, forced to flee from their homes since the uprisings started there in 2011. Headlines today tell us of the regime-based army positioning 20,000 soldiers around the city of Allepo, a city with a population of about 2.5 million, to what will be another inevitable massacre of civilians, young and old. "This is the concern: that we will see a massacre in Aleppo, and that's what the regime appears to be lining up for," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

What's important to understand is that it's not that people every day are dying -- they are being killed. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have access to clean water or food. Or what it would feel like to watch my child bleed slowly to death because she didn't have a proper bandage to stop the blood. And I can't imagine how I or anyone else can believe that I am a good person, knowing fully that as I write this and as you read this people are in fact dying for these very reasons and I somehow would not be compelled to do something.

They are being confined to their homes, prevented from access to medical supplies and care, and have shortages of food and drink. Those who are able to leave find themselves in harsh living conditions in refugee camps, where they also are in need of help.

Abed Ayoub, CEO of Islamic Relief USA, wrote in a first-hand account of a visit to the refugee camps

For those who are injured, medical care is very limited. With few doctors in the camps, gunshot wounds and major burns are being treated with simple first aid until more complex treatments become available.

"In one case, a man was shot in the knee several times," Ayoub said. "There is no treatment for him except to stop the bleeding and bandage his leg. He doesn't have a wheelchair or crutches to help him heal, so other men must carry him around when he needs to move or use the restroom."....to continue reading please click here