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[PICTURES] How Muslims have adjusted to Covid-19 lock-down during Ramadan & Eid

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prakash

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With Ramadan 2020 starting in 10 days, how are you adjusting your fasting and celebrations this year? I feel sad for muslims as the month of Ramadan is the most revered month and favorite time for them. Though fasting is optional, all muslims that I know fast. Some of them drive to work 1+ hour each way every day and still fast. They are very devout.

I am thinking about my coworkers and my friends back in India. Due to lockdown, they cannot meet other friends for Iftar or go to a mosque for Taraweeh. I hope Ramadan 2021 is like past years and muslims will have no issues/problems during 2021 Ramadan.
 
This is probably going to be the most unusual Ramadan of my life. Taraweeh at mosque is nearly impossible. Even Eid prayer is in doubt.

I just want to be able to fast for 30 days. That's all. Meeting people for Iftar is out of the equation.
 
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prakash said:
With Ramadan 2020 starting in 10 days, how are you adjusting your fasting and celebrations this year? I feel sad for muslims as the month of Ramadan is the most revered month and favorite time for them. Though fasting is optional, all muslims that I know fast. Some of them drive to work 1+ hour each way every day and still fast. They are very devout.

I am thinking about my coworkers and my friends back in India. Due to lockdown, they cannot meet other friends for Iftar or go to a mosque for Taraweeh. I hope Ramadan 2021 is like past years and muslims will have no issues/problems during 2021 Ramadan.
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Fasting during Ramadan is obligatory unless someone has a valid reason for not doing so.

Hopefully, people obey the lockdown orders and don't try to visit mosques for Taraweeh etc., as long as that situation continues. Visiting for Iftar is a form of socializing so it's not necessary at all but people give a lot of importance to Taraweeh. Mosques just have a lot more visitors during the whole month in general. As long as the virus isn't completely under control, mosques must remain closed to the public.

The real problem may come post-Ramadan during Eid as that is a time of celebration. Let's hope that things improve by then.
 
This year I have decided to give more to the needy and poor, there are a lot of middle class working people who are suffering now. They are too shy to ask for things so a lot of people created fake accounts and asked for help, it's very saddening. I will donate whatever I can Inshallah to help my Muslim brothers and sisters, this year it made me realize how lucky we are and there are so many people who doesn't even have proper food in their table. The difference between rich and poor in Bangladesh is nothing compared to elsewhere.

Things which I will be doing differently
1: Donate 50% of my salary to the needy, buy them food and drop at their house
2: Tarawi at home
3: Have only two items for Iftar
4: Pray for all my Muslim Pakpassion brothers :amla
 
sweep_shot said:
This is probably going to be the most unusual Ramadan of my life. Taraweeh at mosque is nearly impossible. Even Eid prayer is in doubt.

I just want to be able to fast for 30 days. That's all. Meeting people for Iftar is out of the equation.
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Are you not allowed to pray at home? Is it mandatory that one must do it in a mosque?
 
Kept some fasts in last couple of months and it's quite tough
The worst is the dehydration and the fatigue which is linked to this too

Trying to learn a few short surah by heart again in the last few days but my memory needs alot of attention too
 
gani999 said:
Are you not allowed to pray at home? Is it mandatory that one must do it in a mosque?
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Taraweeh prayer itself is optional but it has tremendous amount of rewards. Praying it at mosque is even more rewarding.

But, of course, this time is different. We can't pray at mosques until COVID-19 problem is gone.
 
PM Imran to consult ulema over Ramazan plan

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he will meet religious scholars to formulate a plan for the Ramazan so that citizens can observe the holy month without fear of the coronavirus spreading further.
 
How strange will it feel not going to Taraweeh or even attending Eid Namaz!
 
I am very surprized that a pandemic of this proportion was not mentioned anywhere in the literature of Islam - it indeed has that eerie feeling of something that can be equated to the end times. When you need Mulvis and their masala stories, they are not in the main movie at all. Definitely has very knock-on effects on literally everything and the whole world is no longer the same. Every important stuff is literally **** down. I do not think so fasting would be the first thing on the minds of an average citizen - what most people in the developing countries like in Pakistan would be so worried about is their day to day survival if somehow they do not have the financial means how are they going to buy stuff for their Iftari and all that? Very creepy stuff and God is indeed flipping mad at his human beings for neglecting his existence.
 
Some are saying that we can pray taraweeh behind an imam who is streaming live from a local mosque. However, I have also heard from others that this is wrong. Does anyone know of a proper fatwa in this area?
 
maybe this time we will have a real month of fasting rather than feasting out with mates in restaurants and going for shisha after.
 
PetroDollars said:
maybe this time we will have a real month of fasting rather than feasting out with mates in restaurants and going for shisha after.
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Ye but the festive feeling with Ramadan is so unique. Ha ye; remember going shisha after iftaar in my younger days :)
 
Saudi Arabia Malaysia and Iran will not allow Namaz e Tarawih due to Covid 19 during Ramadan. Reports
 
At Finsbury Park mosque in north London – once a byword for extremism, now a model of tolerance and community outreach – the first night of Ramadan heralds a month of communal praying, eating and charity work. About 2,000 people attend prayers each day. Volunteers cram into its kitchen to prepare iftar, the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast at sunset, for 300 people each night.

Not this year. “We will miss all that,” said Mohammed Kozbar, the mosque’s general secretary. The building’s gates are locked, with only security guards patrolling its prayer halls and community spaces. “I visited last week. It was heartbreaking to see it empty and silent,” said Kozbar.

The world’s 1.8bn Muslims are facing the most important period of the Islamic year, the holy month of Ramadan, which starts this week, under lockdown because of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Mosques in most countries are shut and gatherings forbidden. The holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia are under curfew. The al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem’s Old City are closed and prayers suspended.

In the UK, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) called for the suspension of all congregational activities at mosques and Islamic centres on 16 March, a week before the government announced all places of worship must close under the lockdown order.

Harun Khan, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Great Britain. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer
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On Friday, the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board said Islamic buildings would remain closed during Ramadan until the lockdown is lifted. “It would be deemed extremely irresponsible to congregate for night prayers or hold religious gatherings during this Ramadan in any mosque or houses with people who are not members of the immediate household,” said Qari Asim, a Leeds imam and chair of the board.

“During the epidemic, the desire to perform prayers with a congregation in a mosque comes second to saving lives.”

For Muslims, to be unable to take part in congregational prayers and break the fast with family and friends during Ramadan was “emotionally challenging, frustrating and culturally alien”, he added.

Shelina Janmohamed, the author of Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World and vice-president of Islamic marketing at Ogilvy Consulting, said: “This is going to be the most unusual Ramadan of my lifetime and I think in the living memory of Muslims across the UK.”

The Islamic holy month was “a time of togetherness and spiritual congregation. Those are the two anchors [of Ramadan], and built into that is a nostalgia around traditions and rituals. Even those who might not normally classify themselves as observant Muslims feel drawn to Ramadan because those feelings of togetherness and community are built into us from childhood.”

Like other faiths, Muslims are using technology to meet the challenges of lockdown. Ramadan prayers and the nightly recitation of the Qur’an will move online, and fundraising for charities will also be digital. Platforms such as Zoom are expected to host iftar parties.

Guidance is being drawn up by Islamic scholars on exemptions from fasting for people who are vulnerable to coronavirus. Muslims working long shifts in essential services will “need to be pragmatic in their approach” to fasting, said Harun Khan, secretary general of the MCB.

“This Ramadan will be at a slower pace. It will give us more time for reflection and the opportunity to be closer to God,” he said. Instead of visiting different mosques every day, Khan will be spending Ramadan at home with his immediate family.

According to Asim: “There is likely to be a tiny group of zealous people who may try to organise iftar events or congregational night prayers in their homes. My message to them is that selfishness has no place with God.”

He also warned that extreme rightwing groups were “trying to use the pandemic to create division” and were scapegoating Muslims for the spread of the virus.

At Finsbury Park mosque, there are plans to distribute iftar meals to people in need or alone who would normally come in person. “People who volunteer with us every Ramadan are calling to say, ‘Please, how can we help?’,” said Kozbar.

The mosque will be streaming lectures and prayers, offering online counselling and organising members to take food to staff at nearby hospitals. “This lockdown is something new for us, like everyone else. It’s a very difficult time, but we want to do our bit.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ramadan-under-lockdown?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
 
namak said:
Some are saying that we can pray taraweeh behind an imam who is streaming live from a local mosque. However, I have also heard from others that this is wrong. Does anyone know of a proper fatwa in this area?
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The Maulvi in the Subcontinent have been lying to us. Through out my childhood I was told that if I don't pray taraweeh my fasting won't be accepted.

There is no need to pray behind an imam online. Best is to pray at home and if you are with the family you can lead the prayer. You can even hold the Quran and read long recitations if that's your intentions.
 
In shadow of coronavirus, Muslims face a Ramadan like never before

Days before the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the Islamic world is grappling with an untimely paradox of the new coronavirus pandemic: enforced separation at a time when socialising is almost sacred.

The holiest month in the Islamic calendar is one of family and togetherness – community, reflection, charity and prayer.

But with shuttered mosques, coronavirus curfews and bans on mass prayers from Senegal to Southeast Asia, some 1.8 billion Muslims are facing a Ramadan like never before.

Across the Muslim world the pandemic has generated new levels of anxiety ahead of the holy fasting month, which begins on around Thursday.

In Algiers, Yamine Hermache, 67, usually receives relatives and neighbours at her home for tea and cold drinks during the month that Muslims fast from dusk till dawn. But this year she fears it will be different.

“We may not visit them, and they will not come,” she said, weeping. “The coronavirus has made everyone afraid, even of distinguished guests.”

In a country where mosques have been closed, her husband Mohamed Djemoudi, 73, worries about something else.

“I cannot imagine Ramadan without Tarawih,” he said, referring to additional prayers performed at mosques after iftar, the evening meal in which Muslims break their fast.

In Jordan the government, in coordination with neighbouring Arab countries, is expected to announce a fatwa outlining what Ramadan rituals will be permitted, but for millions of Muslims, it already feels so different.

From Africa to Asia, the coronavirus has cast a shadow of gloom and uncertainty.

‘WORST YEAR EVER’
Around the souks and streets of Cairo, a sprawling city of 23 million people that normally never sleeps, the coronavirus has been disastrous.

“People don’t want to visit shops, they are scared of the disease. It’s the worst year ever,” said Samir El-Khatib, who runs a stall by the historic al-Sayeda Zainab mosque, “Compared with last year, we haven’t even sold a quarter.”

During Ramadan, street traders in the Egyptian capital stack their tables with dates and apricots, sweet fruits to break the fast, and the city’s walls with towers of traditional lanterns known as “fawanees”.

But this year, authorities have imposed a night curfew and banned communal prayers and other activities, so not many people see much point in buying the lanterns.

Among the few who ventured out was Nasser Salah Abdelkader, 59, a manager in the Egyptian stock market.

“This year there’s no Ramadan mood at all,” he said. “I’d usually come to the market, and right from the start people were usually playing music, sitting around, almost living in the streets.”

Dampening the festivities before they begin, the coronavirus is also complicating another part of Ramadan, a time when both fasting and charity are seen as obligatory.

‘ALL KINDS OF TOGETHERNESS MISSED’
In Algeria, restaurant owners are wondering how to offer iftar to the needy when their premises are closed, while charities in Abu Dhabi that hold iftar for low-paid South Asian workers are unsure what to do with mosques now closed.

Mohamed Aslam, an engineer from India who lives in a three-bedroom apartment in downtown Abu Dhabi with 14 others is unemployed because of the coronavirus. With his apartment building under quarantine after a resident tested positive, he has been relying on charity for food.

In Senegal, the plan is to continue charity albeit in a limited way. In the beachside capital of Dakar, charities that characteristically hand out “Ndogou”, baguettes slathered with chocolate spread, cakes, dates, sugar and milk to those in need, will distribute them to Koranic schools rather than on the street.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, some people will be meeting loved ones remotely this year.

Prabowo, who goes by one name, said he will host Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of the fasting month, via the online meeting site Zoom instead of flying home.

“I worry about the coronavirus,” he said. “But all kinds of togetherness will be missed. No iftar together, no praying together at the mosque, and not even gossiping with friends.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ace-a-ramadan-like-never-before-idUSKBN2210WM
 
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rockyboy2018 said:
I am very surprized that a pandemic of this proportion was not mentioned anywhere in the literature of Islam - it indeed has that eerie feeling of something that can be equated to the end times. When you need Mulvis and their masala stories, they are not in the main movie at all. Definitely has very knock-on effects on literally everything and the whole world is no longer the same. Every important stuff is literally **** down. I do not think so fasting would be the first thing on the minds of an average citizen - what most people in the developing countries like in Pakistan would be so worried about is their day to day survival if somehow they do not have the financial means how are they going to buy stuff for their Iftari and all that? Very creepy stuff and God is indeed flipping mad at his human beings for neglecting his existence.
Click to expand...

I asked the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) about plagues and he said, “They are a punishment which Allāh sends upon whomsoever He wills, but Allāh has made it a mercy to the believers. Anyone who remains in a town which is plagued with an epidemic, remaining patient and anticipating Allāh’s reward, while firmly believing that nothing will befall him other than what Allāh has preordained for him, then he will receive a reward of a martyr.” [2]

“If you hear of a plague in a land do not enter it; and if it breaks out in the land where you stay, do not leave.”[7]

“Do not quarantine the healthy with the infected.”[10]


I think Ramadan will be the best ever. I dont mean not being able to see people or go to the mosque but this year people will be emotional and being emotional with the Lord of the Worlds will only bring you closer to him.

As Muslims we have nothing to fear, we know where we are going and we know we have God on our side.

Btw out of interest, not suggesting anything but does anyone know the % of Muslims who have died compared to the rest?
 
Will miss the community spirit, but InshaAllah A month where we should have more time to be involved in Worship, after All that is what we were created for.
 
sweep_shot said:
Taraweeh prayer itself is optional but it has tremendous amount of rewards. Praying it at mosque is even more rewarding.

But, of course, this time is different. We can't pray at mosques until COVID-19 problem is gone.
Click to expand...

Misconception!

Taraweeh prayer is a Nafil prayer. As a rule of thumb Nafil prayers are better to pray at home than masjid, while praying in group is better than praying alone.

As far as whether praying Taraweeh at home is better than at Masjid, only Allah knows best.
 
With the start of Ramadan only days away, the Muslim world is facing the dilemma of how to observe the holy month during the virus lockdown and under guidelines of social distancing.

Ramadan involves fasting during the day to then break that fast in the evening with a shared meal amid family and the larger community. Many attend long nightly congregations at mosques for prayers called Taraweeh.

This year will be different. In most countries, religious authorities have ruled that prayers during Ramadan should be performed at home and urged people to adhere to the guidelines on social distancing.

For weeks already, the site around the sacred Kaaba in Mecca has been almost empty.

"Our hearts are crying," said Ali Mulla, the muezzin at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. "We are used to seeing the holy mosque crowded with people during the day, night, all the time... I feel pain deep inside."

source BBC
 
Sirris said:
Misconception!

Taraweeh prayer is a Nafil prayer. As a rule of thumb Nafil prayers are better to pray at home than masjid, while praying in group is better than praying alone.

As far as whether praying Taraweeh at home is better than at Masjid, only Allah knows best.
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Nafl prayer is a type of optional prayer. Taraweeh is optional. That's what I wrote.

Also, praying at mosque is better. Here's one hadith:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "The prayer offered in congregation is twenty five times more superior (in reward) to the prayer offered alone in one's house or in a business center, because if one performs ablution and does it perfectly, and then proceeds to the mosque with the sole intention of praying, then for each step which he takes towards the mosque, Allah upgrades him a degree in reward and (forgives) crosses out one sin till he enters the mosque. When he enters the mosque he is considered in prayer as long as he is waiting for the prayer and the angels keep on asking for Allah's forgiveness for him and they keep on saying: 'O Allah! Be Merciful to him, O Allah! Forgive him, as long as he keeps on sitting at his praying place and does not pass wind.
Bukhari Book 1 Volume 8 Hadith 466
Click to expand...
 
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sweep_shot said:
Nafl prayer is a type of optional prayer. Taraweeh is optional. That's what I wrote.

Also, praying at mosque is better. Here's one hadith:
Click to expand...

Yes praying Fardh in mosque is better than at home, while praying Nafil at home is better than at masjid. That was the point I was trying to make.
 
Sirris said:
Yes praying Fardh in mosque is better than at home, while praying Nafil at home is better than at masjid. That was the point I was trying to make.
Click to expand...

I see. You have a point.

I personally like to pray Taraweeh at mosque because I like the vibe inside mosque. Not possible this year though.
 
ALGIERS/CAIRO/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Days before the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the Islamic world is grappling with an untimely paradox of the new coronavirus pandemic: enforced separation at a time when socialising is almost sacred.

The holiest month in the Islamic calendar is one of family and togetherness – community, reflection, charity and prayer.

But with shuttered mosques, coronavirus curfews and bans on mass prayers from Senegal to Southeast Asia, some 1.8 billion Muslims are facing a Ramadan like never before.

Across the Muslim world the pandemic has generated new levels of anxiety ahead of the holy fasting month, which begins on around Thursday.

In Algiers, Yamine Hermache, 67, usually receives relatives and neighbours at her home for tea and cold drinks during the month that Muslims fast from dusk till dawn. But this year she fears it will be different.

“We may not visit them, and they will not come,” she said, weeping. “The coronavirus has made everyone afraid, even of distinguished guests.”

In a country where mosques have been closed, her husband Mohamed Djemoudi, 73, worries about something else.

“I cannot imagine Ramadan without Tarawih,” he said, referring to additional prayers performed at mosques after iftar, the evening meal in which Muslims break their fast.

In Jordan the government, in coordination with neighbouring Arab countries, is expected to announce a fatwa outlining what Ramadan rituals will be permitted, but for millions of Muslims, it already feels so different.

From Africa to Asia, the coronavirus has cast a shadow of gloom and uncertainty.

‘WORST YEAR EVER’

Around the souks and streets of Cairo, a sprawling city of 23 million people that normally never sleeps, the coronavirus has been disastrous.

“People don’t want to visit shops, they are scared of the disease. It’s the worst year ever,” said Samir El-Khatib, who runs a stall by the historic al-Sayeda Zainab mosque, “Compared with last year, we haven’t even sold a quarter.”

During Ramadan, street traders in the Egyptian capital stack their tables with dates and apricots, sweet fruits to break the fast, and the city’s walls with towers of traditional lanterns known as “fawanees”.

But this year, authorities have imposed a night curfew and banned communal prayers and other activities, so not many people see much point in buying the lanterns.

Among the few who ventured out was Nasser Salah Abdelkader, 59, a manager in the Egyptian stock market.

“This year there’s no Ramadan mood at all,” he said. “I’d usually come to the market, and right from the start people were usually playing music, sitting around, almost living in the streets.”

Dampening the festivities before they begin, the coronavirus is also complicating another part of Ramadan, a time when both fasting and charity are seen as obligatory.

In Algeria, restaurant owners are wondering how to offer iftar to the needy when their premises are closed, while charities in Abu Dhabi that hold iftar for low-paid South Asian workers are unsure what to do with mosques now closed.

Mohamed Aslam, an engineer from India who lives in a three-bedroom apartment in downtown Abu Dhabi with 14 others is unemployed because of the coronavirus. With his apartment building under quarantine after a resident tested positive, he has been relying on charity for food.

In Senegal, the plan is to continue charity albeit in a limited way. In the beachside capital of Dakar, charities that characteristically hand out “Ndogou”, baguettes slathered with chocolate spread, cakes, dates, sugar and milk to those in need, will distribute them to Koranic schools rather than on the street.

Meanwhile in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, some people will be meeting loved ones remotely this year.

Prabowo, who goes by one name, said he will host Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of the fasting month, via the online meeting site Zoom instead of flying home.

“I worry about the coronavirus,” he said. “But all kinds of togetherness will be missed. No iftar together, no praying together at the mosque, and not even gossiping with friends.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...BN2210WM?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter
 
(Reuters) - Religious authorities in the United Arab Emirates said medical workers treating COVID-19 patients are exempt from fasting during Ramadan and urged Muslims not to congregate for prayers during the holy month expected to start this week.

The Emirates Fatwa Council said in a statement carried on state media late on Sunday that all healthy people are obliged to fast but medical workers on the frontline of the novel coronavirus pandemic need not do so "if they fear that fasting could lead to weakening their immunity or to losing their patients".

It said Muslims should comply with physical distancing while praying during Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr holiday that marks its end. The UAE has suspended prayer in all houses of worship including mosques as part of containment measures.

"Congregating to perform the prayer could endanger lives, an act that is strictly forbidden in Islam," said the statement.

The UAE, the region's business hub, has recorded 6,781 infections with 41 deaths, the second highest count after Saudi Arabia in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council where the number of cases has steadily risen to surpass 26,600 with more than 160 deaths as countries ramp up testing.

Several Gulf Arab states have suspended passenger flights, imposed curfews and closed most public venues, but have seen a rise in transmissions among low-income migrant workers, many of whom live in cramped quarters. Some Gulf governments are trying to arrange repatriation flights for expatriates who have lost jobs or been put on leave.

UAE Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also ruler of Dubai emirate, announced the launch of a humanitarian campaign on Sunday to provide 10 million meals or food parcels to communities hit by the outbreak in the country.

"Providing food for everyone, with the approach of the Holy Month of Ramadan, is a social priority in our battle against the pandemic," he said in an English-language Twitter post. "In the UAE, no one sleeps hungry or in need. No one is left."

Millions of foreign workers, many from Asia, form the backbone of Gulf economies and work in sectors that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

The pandemic is also likely to disrupt the significant remittances those workers send back to their home countries.
 
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Saudi Arabia suspends praying in the Two Holy Mosques for Ramadan: tweet

Saudi Arabia extended on Monday the suspension of praying in the Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque during the fasting month of Ramadan to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques’ Affairs said on Twitter.

The two mosques, which are considered the holiest places in Islam, will have Ramadan prayers but without worshippers as a precautionary measure and to intensify disinfection operations, the presidency added on Twitter.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-holy-mosques-for-ramadan-tweet-idUSKBN2222VY
 
Iraq eases restrictions ahead of Ramadan

Iraqi authorities on partially scaled back the 24-hour curfew imposed to contain the new coronavirus in a move to balance the restrictions for the month of Ramadan.

The new curfew will be implemented mainly at night, from 7pm until 6am local time as of April 21 until May 11.

The total ban, however, will stay in place on Fridays and Saturday.

Restrictions on public gatherings, and social distancing rules and gatherings of more than three people remain prohibited while restaurants and cafes will be permitted to provide delivery services only.

==

Indonesia bans traditional Ramadan exodus to rein in coronavirus

Indonesia will ban its traditional annual exodus by people streaming out of cities at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, as the Southeast Asian nation looks to curb the spread of coronavirus, President Joko Widodo said.

Indonesia's tally of 616 virus deaths is the highest in East Asia after China, but Widodo had previously resisted a ban, seeking instead to persuade people to stay put.

But health experts had warned that allowing millions in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country to travel to homes in towns and villages over Ramadan, which starts this week, could accelerate the spread of the disease.
 
MCB publishes guidance for #RamadanAtHome – Ramadan 2020 under lockdown

As British Muslims begin to observe the holy month of Ramadan on Thursday and Friday, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) today published its guidance (PDF) for communities to make the most out of the season while the UK remains in lockdown.

The guidelines are part of the MCB’s sustained initiative to encourage British Muslims to stay at home and provide a platform for mosques and Islamic associations to continue to serve their congregations during the pandemic lockdown. In recent weeks Muslim communities have been working hard to continue to be able to engage with religion and their communities, from taking mosques digital to providing support for the vulnerable.

The suspension of services in mosques and social distancing measures will make Ramadan 2020 feel very different for Muslims. Ramadan is usually a time for Muslims to gather with friends and family and in mosques to break the fast and pray together.

The MCB’s guidance advises ways in which Muslims across the UK can still make the most of Ramadan from home socially and spiritually. The guidance includes advice on hosting and attending virtual iftars (meal at the end of fasting) to tuning in to their local mosque’s livestreamed services.

Many mosques across the UK have been ramping up their online presence, already offering daily sermons or prayers sessions, with Imams working to continue to engage with their communities and help keep up morale during these trying times.

Ramadan is also a month of giving, be that financially to charity or physically in service to others. Many mosques rely on donations to sustain services and the pandemic has made it increasingly difficult for mosques to raise funds. The #SupportOurMosque campaign, led by Muslim crowd-funding platform LaunchGood supported by the MCB, is one example of leading innovation in Muslim communities, by offering mosques an online donation platform for congregants to continue to donate money.

The pandemic has also seen a surge in efforts to care for and help those in need. Huge numbers of Muslim-led community initiatives have sprung up across the UK, from using mosques as foodbanks to delivering medication and essentials to vulnerable people. The MCB is encouraging all Muslims to use the holy month of Ramadan to give back to their communities, both in the way of financial donations to their local mosques if they can afford it and getting involved in local initiatives if it is safe to do so.

Commenting, Harun Khan, Secretary General of the MCB said:

“The message for this Ramadan is clear: fast and pray at home and share Ramadan digitally. This is the way to help save lives.

“Ramadan is about connecting to God through worship, reflection, compassion and giving back to others. It is important to use this time to reconsider, to reflect on the way we live our lives and the way we relate to our Creator, our communities and those in need. We must be sure to celebrate Ramadan in the safest way possible: in our homes.”

https://mcb.org.uk/general/ramadan2020_guidance/
 
Taraweeh amid coronavirus: Scholars call for home Ramadan prayers

From Mecca and Jerusalem to London and New York, Muslim scholars across the world have called on people to "stay home and stay safe" this Ramadan, keeping mosques closed and congregational prayers on hold to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Muslims observe Ramadan by fasting during daylight hours, but also essential to this holy month are gatherings to share meals and take part in communal prayers, known as tarawih, or night prayers.

"Congregational prayers are a big part of the lives of many Muslims generally, but even more so during Ramadan with tarawih prayers held daily at many mosques across the country," said Harun Khan, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

But because of the pandemic, mosques worldwide have for weeks taken a series of measures to curb its spread by closing their doors and banning congregations for Friday sermons and the five daily prayers.

As the global death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 170,000 and infections reached 2.5 million cases just days before the start of the holy month, Muslim scholars have reiterated the need to prioritise safety and protection over the need for spiritual and community connection, by avoiding public congregational prayers during Ramadan this year.

Tarawih from home
Saud Arabia announced last week the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina would remain closed throughout Ramadan, saying tarawih prayers would be held without public attendance.

Similarly, Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, announced its doors would remain shut to worshippers throughout the fasting month.

The decision was "in line with legal fatwas [Islamic rulings] and medical advice", Jerusalem's Islamic Waqf, the Jordan-appointed council that oversees the site, said in a statement.

The announcements reflected the general consensus among Muslim scholars and authorities across the world on guidelines they agreed to follow, according to Amanullah De Sondy, a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam at University College of Cork.

"The general consensus [among Muslim authorities] is that prayer should be done at home," De Sondy told Al Jazeera, adding such a decision was evident from when Friday prayers were stopped weeks ago.

Explaining that the Islamic tradition has always put "the sacredness of life" ahead of other considerations, maintaining people's safety amid the coronavirus pandemic has been used as "the key argument" in taking this decision, said De Sondy.

Most mosques - whether in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe or the Americas - have banned congregations on Friday and for the five daily prayers for weeks, using their speakers and the call to prayer to tell people to pray at home instead.

Summing it up, Andrew Booso, an advisory board member at the UK-based Salam Institute, said "scholarly authorities ... seem to have unanimously concurred on the continuing practice of tarawih prayers, albeit as a private practice at home, and not in mosques".

Before the start of the holy month, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the same call in a televised speech: "In the absence of public gatherings during Ramadan, such as prayers ... we should not neglect worship.

"We need to create humility and supplication in our families and in our rooms."

Since praying tarawih at home might be a new experience for many Muslims, several scholars have issued guides on how to carry out the night ritual.

Others, including Akram Nadawi, an internationally renowned Muslim scholar and dean of Cambridge Islamic College (CIC), issued a statement to reassure people who might be worried that praying tarawih from home would not be the same.

"A congregational prayer is valid if there are two or more ... doing the prayer in the same space," he wrote in a post on his Facebook page.

"Your praying at home is always valid and doing so is acceptable when compelling circumstances make attendance at a place of congregation impractical or [as in this time of pandemic] harmful to yourself or others."

Despite this, there are exceptions to the rule, notably among Pakistani religious scholars who agreed with President Ariful Rahman Alvi on a 20-point action plan - including no carpets, handshakes and a limited number of worshippers - to allow for congregational prayers at mosques while adhering to certain requirements.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Alvi said government and ulema, or scholarly, recommendations were collected before taking the decision.

Virtual prayers?
For several weeks since the start of the pandemic, many mosques have kept their communities engaged despite closing their doors through the use of livestreams to broadcast Friday sermons and weekly lectures and classes.

While many mosques will continue to do so during Ramadan, most agreed that virtual tarawih prayers would not be held.

"This year, with mosques and Islamic centres remaining closed and social distancing measures in place, Ramadan will be observed online - socially and spiritually, with virtual iftars, live-streamed lectures and Quran recitations," said MCB's Khan.

"However, given that almost all scholars agree congregational prayers cannot be held via the internet, Muslims who wish to pray in congregation, will be doing so in their own homes with those they live with, being led by one of the family members," he added.

According to Mansour Ali, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Cardiff, while holding tarawih prayers online can allow people to "feel part of a spiritual community during Ramadan", the majority of scholars "deny the validity of any form of virtual congregational prayers", he told Al Jazeera.

Referring to a list of reasons behind the opinion, Ali, who published a paper on the issue, said congregational prayers need to be held in the same physical space as the imam, or prayer leader.

Nadawi agreed, adding worshippers should be able to see and hear the imam and follow his movements from within the same space.

Still, a few mosques including the ones in the US, Ireland and South Africa, announced that tarawih prayers will be livestreamed online for members of their communities to follow.

Stating that the permissibility of the matter involved a difference of opinion, the Islamic Centre of Ireland (ICC) issued a fatwa (legal ruling) in favour of holding online congregational tarawih and Friday prayers as long as the current situation remained in place.

"It [the fatwa] is only valid during the current pandemic in which mosques are closed and shall be immediately invalid once the mosques are open," the ICC said on its website.

While reflecting a minority opinion, the fatwa reflects the centrality of communal prayers for Muslims, especially during the holy month.

"The debate on whether Friday prayers can be called juma prayers or not to online tarawih are fascinating," said De Sondy.

"They show that Muslims are finding ways to live out faith in any situation," he told Al Jazeera. "These are unprecedented times."
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...all-home-ramadan-prayers-200422110654018.html
 
Health minister Matt Hancock has thanked Muslims for continuing to social distance during Ramadan, which started today.

He said: ‘I am acutely aware of how difficult this has been and especially as we enter Ramadan – a month that is so special for so many people.

‘This Ramadan many Muslims who serve their country in the NHS and in the armed forces and in so many other ways will not be sharing the joy of this month as they normally do.

‘I want to say to all British Muslims: thank you for staying at home.

‘I know how important the daily Iftar is, how important communal prayers are at night and how important the Eid festival is.

‘Thank you for making major changes to these vital parts of your practice and I want to say to you all, Ramadan Mubarak and thank you for your service and citizenship and thank you for your sacrifice.’

It comes after the Muslim Council of Britain issued guidance for Muslims about how to practise their faith during the coronavirus lockdown, when gatherings have been banned and all but essential travel prohibited. Ramadan this year will be a ‘very different experience for Muslims’, they said.

The organisation said: ‘At present, it is unlikely that social distancing measures will be lifted and we will be able to return to our normal routines. As such, congregational acts of worship for Muslims outside of the home will still be banned to stop the spread of the virus.

‘This includes taraweeh prayers at the mosque or anywhere outside our own homes, spiritual talks in the community or iftars (breaking of the fast) with friends and family to attend. ‘We will all be seeking to adapt to these changes while still enjoying the spiritual lift and community spirit that Ramadan provides.’


Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/23/matt...ms-staying-home-ramadan-12601248/?ito=cbshare

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Acehnese 'scared' but follow local fatwas

Muslims in Indonesia’s Aceh flocked to the province’s grand mosque on Thursday night to attend mass Taraweeh prayers - an additional prayer at night during the Islamic fasting month Ramadan.

While many of them wore masks, they still prayed closely together, defying the Indonesian government’s physical distancing guidance.

“I’m scared of dying because of coronavirus, but I don’t let it stress me out and scare me out of praying. The most important thing is to maintain our personal hygiene by washing my hands and wearing masks,” Putri Sarah told BBC Indonesia.

Another congregation member, Wahyuka, said that he went to the mosque because his children forced him to.

“I myself am scared of praying together, that is why I prayed far from other people’s lines,” he said.

Marini Kristiani, a sociologist from Syiah Kuala University in Aceh, said that many Acehnese people pay more attention to fatwas, or Islamic rulings, issued by local religious figures than the central government.

Aceh is the only region in Indonesia that implements Islamic sharia law. The province also still carries out public flogging. The latest was on Tuesday, when six people were flogged for violating Islamic law - only one wore a mask.
 
Do not scapegoat Muslims, says Pompeo

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged the international community to avoid scapegoating Muslims during Ramazan for the coronavirus outbreak.

“In this sacred season, already reshaped by the pandemic, scapegoating of certain religious groups, including Muslims, has increased with the spread of Covid-19,” said the chief US diplomat in his Ramazan message.

“We urge all governments and communities to use this time to focus on service and unity, to keep in mind the health and safety of the most vulnerable and the marginalised as we continue to fight to stop the Covid-19 crisis,” he wrote.
 
World's Muslims face very different Ramadan
Martin Bashir

BBC religious affairs correspondent

The coronavirus pandemic has disturbed the rituals and traditions of the vast majority of Islam’s 1.8 billion adherents, who will abstain from food and water during daylight hours for the next 30 days.

In most countries, mosques are closed and Ramadan’s traditional evening call to prayer will be heeded only at home, as Muslims experience the holy month in chastened circumstances.

During Ramadan, special evening prayers – known as Taraweeh – are traditionally said alongside the recitation of the Koran. Taraweeh derives from an Arabic word which means to rest and forms an essential part of congregational worship at this special time of the year.

The pandemic has cut to the heart of Islamic worship; vertically, in terms of prayer, and horizontally, by preventing the evening gatherings when people break the fast together, renew bonds of friendship and extend charity to those in need.

The coronavirus has impacted the holiest sites of Islam. The Grand Mosque in Mecca is silent, the mosque in Medina closed and the doors of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque are bolted.

While most Muslim-majority nations have cancelled congregational gatherings, the prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, was forced to seek a compromise with clerics following protests.

Group prayers will be allowed during Ramadan but only if worshippers observe social distancing and wear face masks inside the mosque.
 
Message from Canadian PM

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A socially distanced Ramadan

Muslims across the world are today coming together to celebrate Ramadan - though it looks a lot different this year.

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Islam's holiest sites emptied by coronavirus crisis as Ramadan begins

RIYADH/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The holy month of Ramadan began on Friday with Islam’s holiest sites in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem largely empty of worshippers as the coronavirus crisis forced authorities to impose unprecedented restrictions.

During Ramadan, Muslims the world over join their families to break the fast at sunset and go to mosques to pray. But the pandemic has changed priorities, with curbs on large gatherings for prayers and public iftars, or meals to break the fast.

In a rare occurrence in Islam’s 1,400-year history, Mecca’s Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina - the religion’s two holiest locations - will be closed to the public during the fasting period.

Prayers from inside the mosque at Mecca on the first evening of Ramadan on Thursday were restricted to clerics, security staff and cleaners, in a ceremony broadcast live on television.

In comments marking the start of Ramadan, King Salman, who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, lamented the need for social distancing during the holy month.

“It pains me to welcome the glorious month of Ramadan under circumstances that forbid us from prayers in mosques,” he said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

“It doesn’t feel special this year, we don’t feel any Ramadan vibes,” said Sarah, a mother-of-two in Riyadh.

At a near-empty Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an imam called out the first Friday prayers of Ramadan across a windswept plateau almost devoid of worshippers.

A handful of clerics in face masks knelt below the pulpit, keeping several feet apart to comply with coronavirus restrictions.

“We ask God to have mercy on us and all of humanity and to save us from this lethal pandemic,” the imam said.

Ramadan typically draws tens of thousands of Muslims daily to the mosque and the adjoining Dome of the Rock. Worshippers will instead have to watch prayers on television.

ASIAN OUTBREAKS

Governments in Asian countries with large Muslim populations urged people to keep their distance while observing Ramadan.

Early outbreaks in Asia, home to many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, were traced in some cases to pilgrims returning from Iran and Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan and Pakistan, or to gatherings of Islamic groups in India and Malaysia.

“Just like when we fast, we must struggle and fight against our desires,” Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address to his country, one of the hardest hit by the virus in Southeast Asia.

On Thursday, his government extended curbs on movement until May 12, cancelled popular evening bazaars and banned attendance at mosque prayers as well as travel back to people’s hometowns.

In Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest Muslim population and Asia’s highest coronavirus toll outside China, President Joko Widodo urged people to work and pray at home.

On the island of Java, Tatan Agustustani, 52, and his family were clearing furniture to make way for prayer mats.

“It’s the same in the mosque or at home,” said Agustustani. “For me, no matter where we are, prayers must go on, even though we cannot pray in the mosque.”

But that message appeared lost in Indonesia’s sharia-ruled province of Aceh, as worshippers crowded into a mosque on the eve of Ramadan.

Some said their fate was not in their hands, although many wore masks as they lined up shoulder-to-shoulder to pray.

“In our belief, it is God who decides when we will die,” said one devotee, Taufik Kelana. “But we will stay alert, like wearing a mask.”

SOME EASING

In South Asia, Ramadan is expected to start on Saturday.

Leaders of India’s 160 million Muslims have urged people to heed the nationwide lockdown throughout the month.

A large number of infections there were linked to a religious gathering of a Sunni missionary group. The Tablighi Jamaat event in mid-March drew participants from across India, neighbouring Bangladesh and even Indonesia and Malaysia.

The All India Islamic Centre of religious teaching will livestream recitations from the Koran, the Muslim holy book, every evening.

“This is the best way to pray to Allah and keep everyone safe,” said its chairman, Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali.

Doctors in Pakistan are worried by the government’s decision to lift curbs on mosque congregations for Ramadan.

Bangladesh has ordered mosques to restrict Ramadan evening prayers to 12 people and banned iftar gatherings, while Sri Lanka has closed mosques.

In Algeria, authorities shortened a night curfew and lifted a full lockdown in a province near the capital Algiers to accommodate Ramadan worship.

The Nigerien capital Niamey was calm but police and military remained out in force following violent protests against a curfew and closing of mosques.

“I invite you to have more patience because patience is the feature of the Muslim believer,” Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said in an address to the nation.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...avirus-crisis-as-ramadan-begins-idUSKCN22611R
 
At home so gonna sleep after sehri and wake up for zuhr. Have a home gym so gonna work out after iftar. Online summer class is also at 1 pm in Canada which is 10 pm over here. Perfect timing
 
Bad points:

- Not much socializing: Missed opportunity to randomly meet 'long time no see' type of friends at the mosque.

- Missing out on Iftar parties with food from all over the world. I am used to trying out turkish food or Arab food at the iftar parties. Not this time around.


Plus points:
- More time at home with the family.
- No distractions by seeing other people eat and drink.
- Weather isn't too hot, besides it doesn't matter much.
- More time to relax and eat the iftar food. Not having to immediately rush to the mosque after belly full of food.
-No social pressure to pray Taraweeh at the mosque.
-Perhaps I could help with the iftar cooking and help make more of the samosa and pakora with increased variety.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ramadan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ramadan</a> is very different this year. <a href="https://t.co/P6az7brfB0">pic.twitter.com/P6az7brfB0</a></p>— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) <a href="https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1257823642680877056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
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chacha kashmiri said:
Kept some fasts in last couple of months and it's quite tough
The worst is the dehydration and the fatigue which is linked to this too

Trying to learn a few short surah by heart again in the last few days but my memory needs alot of attention too
Click to expand...

I have enormous respect for anyone who fasts throughout Ramadan. Must take a lot of willpower. I would like to try out the practice of fasting during Ramadan at some point - initially for one day only, and then to see how it goes after that.
 
James said:
I have enormous respect for anyone who fasts throughout Ramadan. Must take a lot of willpower. I would like to try out the practice of fasting during Ramadan at some point - initially for one day only, and then to see how it goes after that.
Click to expand...

My wife keeps them too so it's nice to open fasts together after a long day
 
New York City - Hani Hajir has cooked his entire life. Watching his customers eat at the halal restaurant he owns in Brooklyn is what brings him joy. But the current coronavirus pandemic lockdown has robbed him of this simple pleasure for more than a month.

He closed shop on March 30, less than two weeks after New York City shut down to contain the spread of the virus. Hajir was worried that he would be exposed to the disease, given that he was the one who interacted with customers the most. Moreover, the business took a hit given the neighbourhood is primarily made of factories and warehouses - a workforce that has all but disappeared since the pandemic began.

Hajir said he had become depressed under the lockdown. He is not alone. Muslim community leaders in New York City said the lack of community activities and inability to pray and break fast together during the holy month of Ramadan has hit the community hard.

But Hajir, like many Muslims across the United States, has found new ways to observe Ramadan, including practising community and charity despite the lockdowns and quarantines.

Hajir has teamed up with the Muslim Community Center (MCC) in Brooklyn to provide food to homeless individuals.

Hajir prepares food in his restaurant every day to give to MCC for deliveries. Mohammed Bahi, director of MCC, then brings the meals to a location in Manhattan to share them with the members from the homeless community.

Even though the MCC has been involved with feeding the homeless community since 2014, Bahi said that this time the spirit is different. MCC has seen nearly double the number of people who normally show up during their Ramadan food drives.

Jeff Perrington, who has previously experienced homelessness and currently works as a liaison for the MCC and the homeless community, agrees that the number of those seeking food assistance this year is on the rise.

"Things have gotten more catastrophic," he said. In April, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shared concerns that food insecurity in the city had doubled during the pandemic, with the city's homeless population especially vulnerable.

MCC's food drive for the homeless community runs about six blocks in Manhattan, according to Perrington, with volunteers making sure social distancing measures are in place. MCC's initiative also provides masks, gloves, sanitisers as well as other hygiene products.

A new 'tool' to strengthen faith
Beyond serving the community, the initiative also offers the volunteers some respite from being in the confines of their home.

New York City is home to approximately 768,767 Muslims, scattered across all five boroughs.
For many who attend the MCC, Bahi said the mosque, now temporarily closed, was the "number-one tool" for them to strengthen their faith and beliefs, especially during Ramadan.

"We lost that tool, [and] everyone is going around trying to replace it, and we thought this is the best way [to do so]," Bahi said.

MCC's initiative also has support from other organisers and facilities, namely the Asiyah Women's Shelter, the only domestic violence shelter in New York geared towards Muslim women that is under the umbrella of Muslims Giving Back, a volunteer-run group that's a part of MCC.

Dania Darwish, the executive director of Asiyah, said volunteering with these activities provides the centre's residents with an opportunity for a mental break from the circumstances they're processing. They assist with preparing and packaging the meals that Bahi carries to Manhattan every night.

Many of the survivors at the centre, she says, were very close to their families, and not being together at this time has made the current isolation particularly challenging.

But they're now using this volunteer opportunity to fill the absence, while also giving back to the community, she said.

'A time for action'
Other initiatives have also popped up across the city. The New York Police Department Muslim Officers Society says every year they organise a massive iftar celebration for the community at the police headquarters.

Given that that is not possible this year, they are now organising a troop of four halal food carts that are providing free meals to New Yorkers between 5pm and 8pm.

Adeel Rana, president of the society, estimates that there are about 1,000 people who show up to the carts every day.

Three of the carts are stationed in specific neighbourhoods across the city, while one does rotations.

The meals are served during the time of iftar, but Rana said they are open to everyone. "When you serve our community, it means you're serving anybody that also belongs in our community," he said.

The food carts belong to Zakarya Khan, who owns a halal restaurant, Gyro King, that operates through different carts and branches in the city.

As soon as the shutdown began, Khan had to close out the carts, and those that ran the carts were suddenly unemployed.

The initiative to offer free meals is now helping fill this gap, as well, as Khan immediately hired back those who were working the cart shift.

"This is a time of help, this is a time of sympathy, compassion, but this is also the time of action," he told Al Jazeera.

As for Bahi, he said the volunteer work is helping people recreate the idea of praying together - just in a different way.

"The feeling we're getting is really reminiscing about being inside a mosque and praying together," he said. "Instead of us praying together standing feet to feet, shoulder to shoulder, we're feeding the homeless together feet to feet, shoulder to shoulder."

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/f...ind-ways-observe-ramadan-200518171405932.html
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Burying the dead, treating the sick and feeding the poor - this is Ramadan during COVID-19. Meet the Muslims helping their communities through the pandemic. <a href="https://t.co/Kl18Rof2of">pic.twitter.com/Kl18Rof2of</a></p>— AJ+ (@ajplus) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1263409200870207493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Instructions for reading Eid namaz at home are available on the internet.
 
Eid in Sydney: 'A sad beginning for a normally happy occasion'

Eid celebrations this Sunday are going to be very different. And not in a good way for many.

The feast after the fasting month of Ramadan is all about the coming together of family and friends. It’s really significant for members of the Muslim community in the diaspora who are away from their relatives.

Big gatherings are a main feature of the celebrations and they are the very thing that won’t be possible this year.

With only 10 people allowed to gather outdoors in Australia for example, families will have to divide their time between friends and may not be able to see them all on the first day.

For many of us the only way we’ll get to celebrate Eid with our families will be online.

For children (and many adults) Eid is also about showing off the new clothes they bought especially for the occasion. Here, Covid-19 restrictions have been slightly eased only last week and shops aren’t allowed to have more than one customers at a time. So it’s a last minute rush for many to shop.

One crucial absence will be that of the massive communal Eid prayers. Muslims won’t gather in mosques at dawn after the holy month of Ramadan or if they do, the numbers are expected to be smaller because they’d have to keep a safe enough distance. For many this will be a rather sad beginning for a normally happy occasion.

My friends have been posting their attempts at making homemade Eid cookies and sharing the recipes some saying, "Covid-19 won’t stop us if we can’t go out and shop for it we’ll make it at home".

Yet, there’s a big debate among some of my relatives back home in Egypt about braving the (mostly crowded) streets to buy the all important Eid cookies. My husband insists he’s capable of baking the cookies - called kahk - and I’ve resisted his offer so far. But with limited options this year I might just let him try.
 
Muslims worldwide prepare to mark Eid

Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid this weekend, marking the end of Ramadan.

But with social distancing restrictions in place, not every country is able to celebrate as usual.

In Malaysia people were able to access their mosque and pray while maintaining a social distance.

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In Pakistan, people packed into a mosque to attend prayers. Daily prayers and evening congregations have been allowed during Ramadan, according to the AFP news agency.

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In the UK, mosques have been closed for nine weeks.

The Muslim Council of Britain has called for people to celebrate at home this weekend.

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In the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, worshippers have been able to access their local mosque. Many wore face masks to protect themselves while they prayed.

Mosques there opened to the public on 6 May, according to the Sarajevo Times.

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Among stalls piled high with sticky sweets and new clothes for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, crowds of thousands – very few wearing masks – have been gathering in Gaza’s markets and on its main shopping streets.

Meanwhile, a sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 infections this week – from under 20 to at least 55 – has renewed worries of a larger outbreak.

“Whoever fears the coronavirus can lock himself in his home,” says barber Mohammed Emadadein, who employs six people in Gaza City.

“Eid is our best time of year because everyone wants to cut his hair for the holiday. If I close my shop, we’ll die of hunger.”
Some Gazans questioned the decision by the Hamas authorities to continue with plans for a limited opening of mosques – two months after they were closed because of the pandemic.

“It’s as if the government officials don’t belong to this country, they closed mosques, cafes and restaurants when we had the first three cases. Now they ease restrictions when we have 35 cases in two days,” says Fathi, 56, a father-of-three, who plans to pray at home.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the spread of coronavirus in Gaza – which is under blockade by Israel and Egypt – could be disastrous given the high level of poverty and weak healthcare system.
 
As Eid approaches, Muslims in the United Kingdom are being bombarded with messages to celebrate at home and observe social distancing measures to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus.

The stream of advice from government, celebrities, and local health and law enforcement officials has been described by some as patronising, as many noticed a double standard.

Social media users expressed their disappointment, saying that there were fewer warnings regarding other recent celebrations such as the VE Day anniversary.

Some pointed to a BBC article highlighting the need to stay at home.

"So the BBC has now interviewed Muslim celebrities 'urging us to stay home for Eid' yet I still have not seen any official condemnation of the busy beaches this week or the celebration of VE Day. Why are we being treated differently?" tweeted Hasan Patel, a young political activist from east London.

Members of the religious minority have been lauded during the pandemic for their charity effortsand as many work on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.

On Friday, the National Health Service (NHS) sent out SMS text messages to Britons reading: "Eid Mubarak to all our patients! If you are celebrating this weekend, remember to stay home and follow social distancing. This will stop the spread of coronavirus and protect the most vulnerable."

The first four doctors to die of coronavirus at the beginning of the epidemic - Alfa Sa'adu; Amged el-Hawrani; Adil El Tayar and Habib Zaidi - were all Muslim and had ancestry in regions including Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Muslims have stopped worshipping in congregations, and sacrificed gatherings and social events during Ramadan, a month that usually brings people together.

Mosques have closed, sermons have gone online and people have either been observing the month of fasting individually or only with the close family members they live with.

We will stay at home on Eid.

But the British media will still vilify us Muslims. Publishing articles inferring that we are or likely to go against the advice of health officials. They use images of Muslims whilst writing articles on Covid19.

Meanwhile 1000s go to the beach.

Meanwhile, the UK is currently enjoying warmer weather and is entering a bank holiday weekend, which has seen thousands abandon social distancing measures and flock to the country's many beaches.

Some said that there has been more messaging trying to stop people gathering for Eid, than urging people against crowding spaces and therefore risking further coronavirus outbreaks.

Twitter user @grumpybengali wrote: "Like so many others, I observe social distancing. When the Govt was still dragging its feet & pursuing herd immunity. I pulled my kids out of school & go out once a week to buy groceries. My local mosques are closed. My fellow Muslims aren’t ignoring the advice.

"We will stay at home on Eid. But the British media will still vilify us Muslims. Publishing articles inferring that we are or likely to go against the advice of health officials. They use images of Muslims whilst writing articles on Covid19. Meanwhile 1000s go to the beach ."

The UK is Europe's worst and the world's second most affected country in terms of deaths from COVID-19, behind the United States.

More than 36,000 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, and at least 252,000 have been infected, according to official figures. The actual toll is widely understood to be higher.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ages-slammed-patronising-200522124639354.html
 
As Ramadan comes to an end, Britain's 2.6 million Muslims are preparing to celebrate one of their biggest holidays known as Eid al Fitr under the shadow of a global pandemic.

While Ramadan is about fasting and giving, so much of the month is also about gathering to pray, to reflect and to give to those in need.

But COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the Islamic holy month.

Eid is celebrated at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and at a time when people should be revelling with their families, many are instead mourning the loss of loved ones.

Kefiat Ullah, 58, died in hospital after contracting coronavirus. He was diabetic. Mr Ullah's family was hoping he would survive but he didn't.

"The things that I will probably miss the most about Eid with my dad is praying, being supported by him spiritually and walking to the mosque with him," his son, Areeb, said.

"I'll also miss his smile and presence the most. He used to teach at the mosque and people loved him. One thing we do on Eid is hug after prayers and I am going to miss his hugs a lot.

"But now we don't even have the mosque where we can go, which makes it a lot harder - this crisis really does bring it home that he is not here anymore."

Mr Ullah, a father of three, was a regular at Masjid Ayesha, one of the oldest mosques in Tottenham, north London.

He is one of six worshippers from the mosque to die during the pandemic.

Due to social distancing and lockdown guidelines mourners have not been able to pay their respects in the usual way.

Black and Asian people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, and this mosque is no different.

"When someone dies people come to your house to support you, bring food and pay their respects but the fact we've not been able to do any of that has had a huge impact on the process," said Areeb.

"We have not been able to mourn properly and even seeing my mum having to mourn with her sisters through Zoom or WhatsApp has been devastating."

For Muslims like Areeb, Ramadan is a time to practice their spirituality. But many rituals and traditions have been upended.

He said: "We are forcing ourselves to adjust to this new reality that we are living in now. Eid is going to be different for us.

"We won't be able to pray with him anymore. Now we will have to just think of the memories. One blessing in disguise though is this has brought me and my brothers closer. I think this will draw our communities closer like never before."

Instead of mass gatherings for celebrations or late-night prayers, Imam Sheikh Khidir Hussain of Masjid Ayesha has found a way to offer a sense of hope to his community during these difficult times.

He said: "A lot of people are feeling a spiritual disconnection. This is challenging for people but we are trying to keep everyone engaged although they are at home.

"While the mosque is closed we are still reaching out to the community on social media. We are delivering prayers, lectures and recitations from the Qur'an all online."

He said the changes are being felt throughout the community and this Ramadan and Eid is like no other he or many will ever have experienced.

"Six of our regular members who would attend this congregation who I used to see on a regular basis are no longer here. Unfortunately COVID won and they lost.

"This is a tough time for us but we must remain optimistic. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel."

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...tr-under-shadow-of-covid-19-pandemic-11993112
 
Nameer Salman's restaurant had about a dozen large groups already booked for iftar dinners before the coronavirus lockdowns and closures hit.

The Palestinian-American co-owner of Jasmine Cafe in Richardson, Texas, did everything in his power to keep his workers - "who are like our family," he said - employed throughout the lockdown in the US state, even allowing his employees to take home needed food items to help their families out.

But with the business largely closed for the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, and at reduced capacity for the remainder as the state reopened, Salman knew the month would be hard.

"Usually Ramadan is the best month for us during the whole year," Salman said, adding that the cafe usually serves 400 to 500 people a day during the holy month.

"It's [usually] really, really busy," he told Al Jazeera over the phone.

When it became clear the large iftar dinners could not be held at the cafe, a patron - and Salman's best friend, who had booked an iftar dinner for more than 100 people - approached Salman with a question: Could the cafe still make the food and donate it to families in need instead?

Salman did not quite know how initially, but he knew the idea could work.

With the help of a couple of trusted-community members, local mosques, and eventually the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) relief, Salman circulated a flyer where individuals in need could contact the restaurant for free meals.

"What got my attention," he said, was the number of people who called saying they were in need of a meal - even before Ramadan began.

Restaurants, like Salman's, and food trucks across the United States have started initiatives to donate food this Ramadan, practicing the act of charity, but also helping keep their own workers afloat. In New York City, several Islamic organisations and businesses teamed up to feed the homeless during the month. Muslim restaurant owners in Connecticut have reportedly been delivering meals and masks to a local hospital.

Other Muslim communities, including in the Dallas area, which includes Richardson, have purchased meals from local restaurants to donate to help the financially hurt businesses and those in need.

'Need way bigger than usual'

Texas has more than 53,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 1,460 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. While the state was one of the first to partially reopen, the state's April jobless rate was 12.8 percent - the worst monthly rate on record. More than two million of the state's estimated 29 million people applied for unemployment since mid-March.

"A lot of these people lost their jobs," Salman said, referring to those who called him for a meal. "And they were at home with [their] children."

Texas Ramadan

Salman said their local initiative raised more than $40,000, which went to providing more than 5,800 meals. Every meal included four appetizers, a main dish - meat and chicken with rice and a vegetable - soup, bread and three desserts.

"We wanted those families to feel the same way we do [when we break fast]," Salman said.

He said they did not just serve Muslims, but anyone in the community who needs help. Some were given tickets to come through a drive-thru to pick up the meals, while other meals were delivered by Salman and his staff.

To reach more community members, Salman connected with ICNA, a nongovernmental organisation with offices across the US.

Hala Halabi, director of ICNA USA's refugee programme, helped Salman hand out tickets for free meals to those in need.

ICNA, which has food banks and other support services across the country, does annual Ramadan drives to distribute food and supply boxes, but by the time the holy month came around this year, Halabi said they had already used up most of their resources due to the spiking need caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Halabi said she, her colleagues and ICNA volunteers searched out new donors. They were able to round up enough money and supplies to continue their Ramadan box drive. But they were also able to be a part of several hot-food initiatives, including Salman's, during this year's Ramadan.

"The need is way bigger than usual. Every year refugees are dependent on us [during Ramadan]," Halabi told Al Jazeera.

"But this year with the COVID, people literally don't have food," she said.

ICNA serves refugees, the homeless and immigrant communities throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This includes Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan, and Rohingya communities - and many others.

Halabi said she worries especially for refugee communities during the pandemic.

"They need the support," she said.

As for Salman, he is looking forward to his business returning - the cafe's hookah lounge was allowed to reopen on Friday and Texas restaurants can now operate at 50 percent capacity - but he also hopes to continue the free meal initiative in some way after Ramadan ends this weekend.

"It's a totally different feeling" this year, Salman said. "When you can help that many people, it's amazing."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/ramadan-muslims-feed-virus-hit-texas-200522214121567.html
 
Eid al-Fitr in the US state of Michigan this year is going to be very different, said Mahmoud Al-Hadidi, a physician and chairman of the Michigan Muslim Community Council.

There will be no mass prayers in the mosques, no communal breakfasts, no carnival and no evening parties. Even family gatherings will be limited.

"Usually we have a huge party at my house with 400 to 500 people," Al-Hadidi told Al Jazeera.

"I'm not gonna be doing that this year," Al-Hadidi said. "I'm going to be with my immediate family, and we're staying at home."

But the curbs on mass social gatherings put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus, expected to last through at least May 28, have not dampened the holiday spirit. And residents of southeast Michigan, home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States, say they have found innovative ways to welcome the three-day holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, while adhering to social-distancing measures.

"We are determined to celebrate and be happy despite all the circumstances, we will adapt," Al-Hadidi added.

Thousands are expected to tune in on Sunday morning for a live Eid sermon that will be aired on local television and streamed on social media. Later in the day, cars will be able to line up outside several mosques to enjoy live music and to receive gift bags for children, in this year's first-ever drive-thru Eid event.

Like most Muslims around the world, those of southeast Michigan, a community of over 250,000, traditionally celebrate Eid by visiting friends and relatives in their homes or attending large gatherings where people eat and socialise together.

"Normally we go to the mosque for prayer and breakfast, and at night we go out for dinner," Lama Samman Nasry told Al Jazeera, "we spend most of the day out of the house."

Samman Nasry - a resident of the Detroit suburb Franklin who works as a manager at an urgent care clinic and is the mother of four children - said she will be one of dozens who will be volunteering to hand out presents and food, hoping to help spread some joy.

"It's going to be a quieter celebration," she said. "It will be a different kind of celebration, definitely."

Michigan has been one of the hardest-hit states during the coronavirus pandemic, with over 53,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 5,000 deaths - the fourth-highest death toll in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.

The state also imposed one of the strictest stay-at-home orders, which prompted small groups of protesters, some armed, to demonstrate at the state capitol.

On Thursday, Michigan's governor Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced steps to reopen the state's economy and presented timelines for the resumption of some businesses and allowing some social gatherings.

"We've taken significant steps forward to re-engage our economy safely and responsibly over the past few weeks. Now we are going to take some time to ensure that these new measures are working," Whitmer said during Thursday's news briefing.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said that he has deemed houses of worship as "essential" and called on governors across the country to allow them to reopen this weekend despite the threat of spreading the coronavirus.

"These are places that hold our society together and keep our people united," he said at a news conference at the White House.

"The people are demanding to go to church and synagogue, go to their mosque," he said.

Trump said that if governors do not abide by his request, he will "override" them. It remains unclear what authority he has to do so, and how governors - including Michigan's - will respond.

Meanwhile, Firas Bazerbashi, a physician, says most residents in Michigan are fully aware of the health risks and will forego the customary community celebrations. He added that after weeks of quarantine, people have learned to replace family visits with phone calls and Zoom sessions, despite a renewed need to be physically close to family.

"It will be remarkably different," Bazerbashi told Al Jazeera. "It's really hard to be isolated from family and friends and being disconnected from the community."

"We are mentally prepared to have a COVID Eid, but it is still very challenging," he said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ways-celebrate-covid-eid-200521175210080.html
 
Muslims across Britain are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr remotely this weekend, with many mosques set to host virtual prayers during continued lockdown measures.

The religious festival marking the end of Ramadan usually brings families and friends together for communal prayers, food and to exchange gifts.

But this year community leaders have encouraged people to stay at home and adhere to physical distancing measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Shaz Saleem, the secretary of Dudley Central mosque in the West Midlands, said Eid prayers would be held virtually via a WhatsApp group.

“Our only guidance to people has been to stay at home, stay safe. There’s nothing stopping people from having a little garden thing at home with their household, but it’s not the same thing,” he said.

“It’s like our Christmas, and it’s an excuse for all families to get together. We’ve got elderly relatives, and we can’t go and see them because we don’t want to pose a risk to them. It’s quite unfortunate and sad in that respect.”

The mosque has been hosting virtual prayers throughout Ramadan and Saleem said that although celebrating remotely was the right thing to do this year, not being able to see loved ones would be a test for the community after an already difficult few months.

Dozens from the Muslim community in Dudley have died after contracting coronavirus. A banner has been pinned on a wall outside the mosque thanking frontline NHS staff for “protecting us all”.

Qari Asim, a senior imam at Makkah mosque in Leeds, said he would deliver an online sermon on the morning of Eid, send well-wishes to his congregation on Facebook and drop off cakes, baked at home with his family, to people in the community.

He said the situation was “really surreal” but that Muslims had no other choice.

“There is a palpable sense of sadness in the community given that usually mosques are jam-packed with people on this auspicious day,” he added.

Other mosques, including the Islamic Centre in Nottingham, have offered guidance to people on how to celebrate Eid at home via Facebook videos. Some, such as the Khidmat Centre in Bradford, have handed out gift packs to children whose families are struggling financially.

At a Downing Street press conference on Thursday, the UK’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, urged Muslims to “adapt the celebrations” around physical distancing rules.

“The reason we must all do that is, this is to protect the whole community, all communities and all of us must find ways around this, of whatever faith,” said Whitty.

“I know that all Muslim colleagues and friends of mine are adapting as every other faith has adapted over this period to make sure they can maintain both the celebration but also maintain the social distancing, which is absolutely critical to keeping the R [number] below one, and the transmission rates going down across the whole of the UK.”

The Muslim Council of Britain has issued specific guidance for each nation, and urged people to celebrate Eid “in the same way as Ramadan: from home, and virtually with friends and family”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/23/eid-celebrations-go-virtual-uk-muslims-urged-stay-home
 
German church opens doors for Muslim prayers

A church in Berlin has opened its doors to Muslim worshippers unable to fit into their mosque under new social distancing rules.

Germany allowed religious services to resume on 4 May but worshippers must maintain a distance of 1.5m (5ft).

As a result the Dar Assalam mosque in the city's Neukölln district could only hold a fraction of its congregation.

But the Martha Lutheran church in Kreuzberg offered to help by hosting Friday prayers at the end of Ramadan.

Throughout the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk. Normally families and friends would gather to break their fast and attend communal prayers, but in Berlin - as in countries across the world - this year's celebrations have been affected.

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"It is a great sign and it brings joy in Ramadan and joy amid this crisis," the mosque's imam told Reuters news agency. "This pandemic has made us a community. Crises bring people get together."

"It was a strange feeling because of the musical instruments, the pictures," congregation member Samer Hamdoun said, noting the contrast to Islamic worship.

"But when you look, when you forget the small details. This is the house of God in the end."

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Even the church's pastor took part in the service.

"I gave a speech in German," said Monika Matthias. "And during prayer, I could only say yes, yes, yes, because we have the same concerns and we want to learn from you. And it is beautiful to feel that way about each other."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52780600
 
Turkey has imposed a four-day nationwide lockdown for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, in a move aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus that has killed more than 4,200 people in the country.

The curfew came into effect across Turkey's 81 provinces on midnight on Friday, a day before Eid, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Markets, grocery stores, greengrocers, and butchers will continue to operate from 10am to 5pm local time (07:00 - 14:00 GMT) on May 23, but they will be closed from May 24 to 26. Bakeries will remain open during the four-day lockdown, the country's broadest yet.

This year's Eid celebrations will be markedly constrained, with people unable to attend large gatherings and feast together, or travel to visit family and friends.

Worshippers will also not be able to attend mosques, where congregational prayers have been suspended since March 16, although some will gradually reopen next week.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted at an easing of restrictions after Eid, but warned of tough measures if people failed to follow physical distancing rules.

Turkey has not had a stringent countrywide lockdown since reporting its first positive case on March 11, resorting instead to weekend curfews in some provinces.

Critics say previous partial movement-restriction orders were badly organised and ineffectual.

Earlier this week, shopping centres, barbershops and hair salons were allowed to reopen across the country after a nearly two-month closure.

The easing of restrictions came with stepped-up safety and hygiene measures in place.

As of Friday, the country had reported a total of 154,500 coronavirus cases, including 116,111 recoveries, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Earlier this month, Turkey's lira briefly fell to a record low against the United States dollar as Ankara sought to mitigate the economic effect of the outbreak.
 
As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan comes to a close, most countries around the world are set to celebrate Eid al-Fitr on Sunday.

However, this Eid is very unlikely to resemble that of previous years as the coronavirus pandemic continues to paralyse human movement around the world.

Many Muslim-majority countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Indonesia have suspended most Eid-related activities, including morning prayers.

In Saudia Arabia, mosques will be broadcasting the call to Eid prayers, but no worshippers will be allowed to attend, with people told to perform the prayers at home, similar to measures throughout Ramadan this year.

Minority Muslim populations, such as those in North and Latin America, will also be celebrating under lockdowns and related restrictions.

"This year the celebration of Eid will be sad," Fuad Musa, of the Islamic Centre of Chile in Santiago, told Al Jazeera.

"On one hand, there is the joy that comes after the month of fasting ends, but it will be strange because we remember how the festivities were in previous years ... where we all gather, dress up in the mornings, carry out our prayers," he added.

There have been more than 5 million coronavirus cases recorded globally to date and more than 341,000 deaths.

Instead, Muslim organisations and individuals are finding technological and virtual alternatives to keep Eid traditions alive, such as virtual sermons, social media celebrations and online concerts.

The Islamic centre where Musa works has in previous years invited Muslim scholars from the Middle East to give lectures on Eid, attended in person by many in the Chilean Muslim community - established for more than 100 years in the Latin American nation.

However, due to travel restrictions, Musa said there was no choice but to listen to the invited scholar via video conferencing.

"We will first pray, then listen to the Sheikh [scholar], we then might show our food and sweets online [I'm not sure]. We have never done this before, so I cannot tell you how exactly it will turn out, as we are making the path as we walk."

"Our virtual Eid celebration will include everything from children's activities of story-telling and crafts, exercise classes, and highlights from #MyOpenIftar throughout Ramadan."

The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US-based civil rights group, also announced it will use online tools to allow American Muslims to celebrate Eid.

The event, titled "#QuarantEid", has asked people to send photos and videos which CAIR staff will compile and share digitally, including on social media.

"We want to encourage people to celebrate even though they are physically apart", Edward Mitchell, deputy executive director of CAIR, told Al Jazeera.

"The idea is to take a picture, highlighting something positive, something you are grateful for on this very unusual Eid ... share with your friends and the community, something fun," he added.

The photos will be shared on CAIR's website and their social media platforms.

In the United Arab Emirates, in the capital Abu Dhabi, the city's Department of Culture and Tourism announced a series of live online concerts from May 23 to 25, local media outlet Khaleej Times reported.

Singers and performers from across the Middle East will perform, including Iraqi singer and star Kathem al-Saher, whose concert will be live-streamed on YouTube on Sunday.

Eid charity drives
Distribution of food and other basic goods to poor communities is an important custom that takes place on Eid al-Fitr.

Like previous years, RTP's Ahmed said the group had distributed food and other necessities before Eid with their partners Launchgood, an online fundraising platform.

"We have also been able to continue feeding vulnerable communities during lockdown, by providing hundreds of hot meals and sweet treats before the Eid celebrations," she added.

Previously, food would be distributed on-site at RTP tents, where people would attend the group's Eid events.

This year, Ahmed said: "Volunteers have reached out to local mosques, restaurants and housing associations to get these distributed for us, as they have official processes in place to distribute the meals under social-distancing guidelines."

Similarly, the United Mission for Relief and Development (UMR), a non-profit charity based out of the US, has had to adjust their methods to be able to cater to poor and vulnerable communities this Eid.

Abdul Ghani Ismail, UMR representative in Kenya, organised local volunteers and staff virtually on Saturday to spearhead local distribution of basic necessities and toys to children in different towns in the East African nation.

"In the time before the pandemic, I would myself go and supervise the distribution of food and Eid gifts to our local branches in different parts of Kenya," Ismail told Al Jazeera from the capital Nairobi, calling it his "ethical" duty to be present during these food drives.

However, restrictions set by the Kenyan government this year meant he could not travel outside Nairobi and was forced to fulfil his responsibilities via Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp.

He said the group also distributed Zakat al-Fitr, a monetary sum distributed to those in need before Eid prayers, in the Kenyan towns of Garissa and Wajir.

The people receiving the support included orphans, female-headed households and disabled people, he added.

Ismail was also unable to see his family in Eastleigh, a neighbourhood in Nairobi, and had to contact them online. Eastleigh has been under lockdown since earlier this month due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ions-virtual-coronavirus-200522225334395.html
 
Muslims pray outside Al-Aqsa Mosque

Muslims prayed outside the closed gates leading to the Al Aqsa mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem's Old City as the holy site remained closed amid coronavirus restrictions over the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Israeli police, some in riot gear, guarded the entrances to the compound.

Most virus restrictions have been lifted in Jerusalem, but the Al-Aqsa mosque compound remains closed until after Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.
 
Muslims around the world began marking a sombre Eidul Fitr on Sunday, many under coronavirus lockdown, but lax restrictions offer respite to worshippers in some countries despite fears of skyrocketing infections.

The festival, one of the most important in the Muslim calendar marking the end of the holy month of Ramazan, is traditionally celebrated with mosque prayers, family feasts and shopping for new clothes, gifts and sweet treats.

Also read: Trump hopes Muslims find comfort, healing on Eid

But this year, the celebration is overshadowed by the fast-spreading respiratory disease, with many countries tightening lockdown restrictions after a partial easing during Ramazan led to a sharp spike in infections.

Further dampening the festive spirit, multiple countries — from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, Turkey and Syria — have banned mass prayer gatherings, a festival highlight, to limit the spread of the disease.

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, began a five-day, round-the-clock curfew from Saturday after infections more than quadrupled since the start of Ramadan to around 68,000 — the highest in the Gulf.

Eid prayers will be held at the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madina "without worshippers", authorities said on Saturday, citing a royal decree.

Makkah's Grand Mosque has been almost devoid of worshippers since March, with a stunning emptiness enveloping the Holy Kaaba.

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, will reopen to worshippers only after Eid, its governing body said.

In Lebanon, the highest Sunni religious authority has announced the reopening of mosques only for Friday prayers. Worshippers, however, will be subject to temperature checks and sanitary controls before they enter.

Fears of 'new peak'
Meanwhile, Muslims across Asia — from Indonesia to Pakistan, Malaysia and Afghanistan — thronged markets for pre-festival shopping, flouting coronavirus guidelines and sometimes even police attempts to disperse large crowds.

"For over two months my children were homebound," said Ishrat Jahan, a mother of four, at a bustling market in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.

"This feast is for the kids, and if they can't celebrate it with new garments, there is no point in us working so hard throughout the year."

In Indonesia — the world's most populous Muslim nation — people are turning to smugglers and fake travel documents to get around bans on the annual end-of-Ramazan travel that could send infections soaring.

More than 3,500 Tunisians who travelled home just ahead of the holiday will have to spend it away from their families, forced to quarantine for two weeks in hotels after arriving from abroad.

Atef Maherzi, a doctor repatriated on Tuesday from Saudi Arabia, said she would be catching up with family over Skype, foregoing her usual role of host.

"Usually, I'm the mistress of the house, but this time, my husband will receive the guests alone."

The Covid-19 death tolls across the Middle East and Asia have been lower than in Europe and the United States, but numbers are rising steadily, sparking fears the virus may overwhelm often underfunded healthcare systems.

Iran, which has experienced the Middle East's deadliest outbreak, has called on its citizens to avoid travel during Eid as it battles to control infection rates.

Iran shut schools and places of worship and banned inter-city travel for the Persian New Year holidays in March, but the restrictions were recently eased.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that the country was focusing hard on avoiding "new peaks of the disease" caused by people "not respecting health regulations".

The exact date of Eid has yet to be set in the Shia-majority country, but will likely be Monday, in line with the Shia community's celebrations in Iraq, as announced by top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

Sunnis in Iraq will mark the start of the festival on Sunday.

'Comedy night'
The neighbouring United Arab Emirates has tightened its lockdown, with the night-time curfew starting at 8pm (local time) instead of 10pm during Ramadan.

But that has not stopped some families from planning getaways to luxury beachfront hotels in Ajman or Ras Al-Khaimah emirates.

However, Muslims in many countries are set for frugal celebrations amid growing financial distress.

The twin shocks of coronavirus restrictions and falling oil prices have plunged the region into the worst economic crisis in decades.

The coronavirus restrictions have hit businesses hard, including retailers who would normally be preparing for the festive rush, as Muslims save their money for masks, gloves and other Covid-19 protective gear.

In the Syrian capital Damascus, Eid shoppers rummaged through flea markets for clothes at bargain prices as the war-ravaged and sanctions-hit country grapples with a much more entrenched economic crisis.

"The flea market is the only place I can buy something new to wear for the Eid holidays," 28-year-old Sham Alloush told AFP.

"Had it not been for this place, I wouldn't have been able to buy new clothes at all."

But promising some laughs in these dire times, 40 Muslim comedians from across the world will host a virtual show on Sunday called "The Socially Distant Eid Comedy Night".

"This Ramazan has been particularly difficult for communities around the world," said Muddassar Ahmed, head of the Concordia Forum, the organiser of the event.

"We're proud to be pulling together some of the brightest Muslim comedic talent to entertain those celebrating the Eid festival at home, people looking to learn a little bit about Muslim culture, or really anyone in need of a good laugh."

https://www.dawn.com/news/1559338/virus-lockdowns-stifle-eid-celebrations-as-infections-rise
 
Pictures from around the globe

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Social distancing at Eid - Pakistan style.

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Pictures courtesy of Al Jazeera


Muslims attend the morning prayer session to celebrate Eid at Lokomotiv Stadium in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria

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Children play outside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan

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Men wearing face masks practice physical distancing during prayer on the grounds of Yakaniah mosque in Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat

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People in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, pray in the garden of a house while celebrating Eid.

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Prayers at a mosque in Lhokseumawe, in Indonesia's Aceh province

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In pictures: Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Africa

The coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over Eid, the traditional festivities that mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Despite restrictions, Muslims in Africa found ways to celebrate.

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Hundreds attended Eid prayers in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, despite an appeal by the government to avoid large gatherings

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These men practised social distancing when they gathered at a mosque in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for prayers
 
This was probably the easiest Ramadan ever, it went by so fast that I didn’t even feel like I was fasting or keeping count of it.
 
Lovely sounds of Takbeer for Eid from Al Aqsa

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Jakarta, Indonesia - Under a highway in northern Jakarta, a group of horse cart drivers gather and wait.

Tohirin, 59, is one of them. The coronavirus pandemic has slashed his earnings and separated him from his family.

"Before the coronavirus, I used to take my cart to the National Monument. At that time, I would earn around $30 to $40. Because of the restrictions, I can't do that anymore," he told Al Jazeera.

"Now I only go once every two or three days. I don't go out every day, because there aren't many places I can go to now. Before the restrictions I would go out with my horses every day."

Public sites are closed due to mass social distancing restrictions in Jakarta - making it harder than ever for Tohirin and fellow horse cart drivers to find passengers, and earn a living.

"Lately, I only earn around $5 a day. There aren't many places I can go now."

The men have used this land under the highway as a makeshift stable for the horses for 13 years.

Now, with most public sites closed - they are spending more time here than ever before.

It is hot - but there is nowhere else to go. The men cook here, tend to their horses, and some of them even sleep under the highway.

Tohirin has ridden through the streets of Jakarta in his horse buggy for more than 20 years.

"My horses' names are Joni and Jaka. In this job, I'm the boss of the horses," he said.

There are dozens of horses under the highway - some are wearing sparkling blinkers and brightly coloured saddles.

But their elaborate costumes could not hide the distressing reality - the horses are emaciated, their bones jut out and their eye sockets are sunken.

"Before the virus, I would feed them three times a day. But now, there are days I can't give them horse food, only grass. That's why they are skinny."

Tohirin's wife, his five children and seven grandchildren all live outside Jakarta, and he has not seen them since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

It means, for the first time, he will spend the Muslim holiday of Eid at-Fitr alone.

His family is like millions around Indonesian - marking Eid with subdued celebrations, with no means to be with their loved ones.

"I haven't given them any money for the past five months. I haven't been able to see them. I want to send them money, but I have none," he said.

"I miss them so much - but because of this situation, like it or not, I cannot go home."

https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2020/05/lonely-eid-al-fitr-highway-jakarta-200524063959934.html
 
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