Young Muslim People Are Preparing For A Socially Distanced Ramadan

By Ahmad Ibsais


No matter where I was in the world, I have routinely celebrated Ramadan. I can remember being surrounded by family member and gorging myself on food, before swiftly putting our meal to the side once we heard the calls to prayer at sunrise. I remember the 2 a.M. Runs to IHOP with my cousins, and I remember breaking fast at the end of the month with knafeh, a Palestinian dessert, and celebrating at the mosque with each person in our community on Eid al-Fitr.


The month of Ramadan is the most sacred time of the year in Islamic culture. While in the month, we fast from sunrise to sunset, which is one of the five pillars — or duties — of Islam, as well as the testimony of faith, prayer, charitable giving, and creating a pilgrimage to Mecca. We pray five times a day, including before the sun rises and sets, a tradition Ameer Abdul, a 24-year-old women’s health activist in Columbus, Ohio, cherishes most. “From a spiritual sense, during day the entire family member each makes dedicated time to recite the Quran,” Abdul told MTV News. “We also each like to share our preference verse of the day with one another.”


It’s because our holidays are based on the lunar calendar that the dates vary against their western counterparts a year, and this year, Ramadan is falling in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, from April 23 to May 23. And that’s crucial, because Ramadan isn’t just about fasting: It is also a time as soon as families gather, celebrate, and unite under shared community. It is while in this month that Muslims volunteer most within their communities and give zakat, or charity, to the much less fortunate.


It’s hard to imagine what observing Ramadan will be like without being surrounded by family member, without the laughter of my little cousins, and without praying alongside companions. This summer, I was supposed to travel to Palestine to visit my family member. I proposed on walking the streets of Jerusalem and seeing the happiness around shared celebration. Although with limitations on travel as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, I’ll be staying in Florida.


“It hurts to think that this year we’re going to be much more isolated than we’re used to,” Abdul told MTV News. “That being mentioned, Ramadan is a time to practice patience and put our trust in God, that without consideration of the circumstance, he'll be allocating us with what's ultimately best for us all.”


As a young Muslim American, celebrating Ramadan is one of the main reminders of my faith in the U.S. And I’m not alone: there really are over four million Muslims in the United States and almost two billion Muslims around the world, all of whom were affected by the global coronavirus pandemic long before Ramadan began. With worries of infecting our loved ones or further spreading the coronavirus, it seems that several of us will have to shift how we practice our faith. And as mosques close across the world, we don’t have any other choice.


That’s why so several mosques — and Muslims — around the world are beginning to adapt. Thandiwe Abdullah, a 18-year-old in Los Angeles, is delighted of how her community has already shown resilience and adapted to new social distancing mandates. “My mosque, The Islamic Center of Southern California, has been holding khutbahs on Zoom along with Friday prayers,” Abdullah told MTV News, adding that her youth order is also hosting Zoom calls on Sundays. As for Ramadan, she plans to observe by consuming food suhoor at residence with her family member, and having virtual “Ramadan Nights” with her companions from the mosque, where they'll laugh and connect up until the morning prayer.


Abdullah mentioned the changes to how she’s praying, and soon celebrating Ramadan, might help several Muslims tap into what she calls “the roots” of our faith. “Ramadan is about simplicity and becoming closer to religion, and though it’s not the ideal of situations, I think the aspect of physical distancing will force a lot of us to get back to the basics,” she said.


Growing up Muslim American, Ramadan was the one time of year that I felt my religion had a place in the U.S., Where I might would be a Muslim unapologetically. While it’s disheartening to be able to see this holiday, one intended for unity and happiness, be shrouded by fear, if there really is one thing I know about the Muslim community, it is that we are ones to adapt.


I know this month will include FaceTime calls via night, a virtual Eid al-Fitr, and, in the spirit of zakat, fortunate Muslims will be sending whichever food and groceries they can spare to those in need, as a substitute opposed to delivering them in person. “This Ramadan may be different, it might be tough for several of us, nevertheless it will be one where we can focus more on self-development and self-reflection,” Abdul mentioned. “I’m exceptionally excited to be able to see all of the new creative and innovative ways we’ll be connecting while in the month.”


I’m one of the lucky ones: there really are plenty of Muslims across the globe who are unable to connect digitally with their loved ones, and unable to find food and shelter at the mosques. Fatimata Cham, a 18-year-old Senegalese and Gambian American, is struggling to connect with her family member. “My dad has noticed it hard to send my grandmother cash she needs for Ramadan because she lives in the village and the borders are closed in Senegal,” Cham told MTV News. As a result, she’s been discovering other ways to reach her family member, like having someone in her grandmother’s village pick the cash up for her.


“Ramadan isn't just a holiday, it is a way for Muslims to learn sabr,” Cham mentioned, referring to the notion of perseverance that fasting and other rituals speak to. “To learn to be patient in any struggle that may come their way so that they might be better prepared for this world and the hereafter.” Abdul agreed, adding that “Ramadan is a time that focuses on teaching empathy.”


This Ramadan will be a moment to create new memories and begin new traditions. Since we won’t have the ability to pray at the mosque, my family member is setting up new traditions, like styling a Ramadan tree and setting up other decorations to create our residence feel special. We are going to all also be giving up something we cherish, which we do every year; I am going to be giving up music, which is a little thing to give up as soon as so several folks are struggling, however it matters nonetheless. And once life refuses to get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger, and more resilient.