Places of worship around the world have closed their doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but life still goes on, and so does Ramadan.
Ramadan has landed smack-dab in the middle of the largest world-wide lockdown in modern history, but the 1.8 billion Muslims who partake in the month of communal prayers, dusk-to-dawn fasting and celebrating with friends and family are having to find ways to adapt.
For University of Oregon student Hanin Najjar, and many celebrating the holy month, seeing old friends after dusk for Taraweeh prayers is the best part of Ramadan.
“They’re kind of like these long prayers are only during Ramadan, and that’s the best part because you really get to see people,” Najjar said. “You get to see and talk to people, especially people that you haven’t seen all year.”
Once the sun is down and prayers are finished, it is time to feast. After showing dedication and self-control over the course of the day, this is an opportunity to socialize and eat good food with friends.
Najjar said a tradition in her friend group was to hit some late-night food joints after Taraweeh prayers.
“We eat all night and then fast during the day,” Najjar said. “That’s like the time to eat, the middle of the night, and so we’ll go to IHOP or something like that.”
Because restaurants and mosques are closed and social distancing is in place, she said it just doesn’t feel like Ramadan this year.
“Now it’s just me, my mom and brother at the house every night and that’s it, like no other people. We can’t go to the mosque because those shutdown. We’ve kind of lost that sense of community,” Najjar said.
Even the holiest sites in the Muslim world have shut down in Saudi Arabia. King Salman of Saudi Arabia announced that two mosques in Mecca and Medina would be closed for prayer just a week before April 24, the first day of Ramadan.
Many mosques are trying to find ways to connect with their congregations during this important holy time. The Eugene Islamic Center is holding live lectures with Yosof Wanly, a professor of Islamic studies at Guidance College, every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 on their Facebook page.
There is a small sliver lining for Najjar, though. For the first time since the UO junior went to college, she has been able to spend the whole month of Ramadan with her family. Because the Islamic calendar is on a Lunar system, the start date of the holy month changes every year but typically falls between late April and May.
For iftar—that feast after sunset—Najjar and her family have been cooking up some of their Ramadan favorites like samosas and fried balls of potato, cheese and ground beef. But it doesn’t stop there.
“It’s funny, after you’ve been fasting all day you feel like once you actually break your fast, you feel like you can’t eat a lot,” Najjar said.
“But you always have to have dessert. No matter what.”