ARGELES / CAIRO / JAKARTA: Days before the month of Ramzan's holy fast begins, the Islamic world is grappling with an untimely paradox of the new coronavirus pandemic: forced separation at a time when socialization is almost sacred.
The holiest month in the Islamic calendar is family and union: community, reflection, charity and prayer.
But with mosques closed, coronavirus curfews, and massive prayer bans from Senegal to Southeast Asia, some 1.8 billion Muslims face a Ramzan like never before.
Across the Muslim world, the pandemic has generated new levels of anxiety before the holy fast month, which begins around Thursday.
In Algiers, Yamine Hermache, 67, generally receives relatives and neighbors at her home for tea and cold drinks during the month that Muslims fast from dusk to dawn. But this year he fears it will be different.
"We can't visit them, and they won't come," she said, crying. "The coronavirus has made everyone fearful, even of distinguished guests."
In a country where mosques have been closed, her husband Mohamed Djemoudi, 73, worries about something else.
"I cannot imagine Ramzan without Tarawih," he said, referring to additional prayers performed in mosques after iftar, the dinner in which Muslims break their fast.
In Jordan, the government, in coordination with neighboring Arab countries, is expected to announce a fatwa describing Ramzan rituals, but for millions of Muslims, it already feels very different.
From Africa to Asia, the coronavirus has cast a shadow of sadness and uncertainty.
‘THE WORST YEAR EVER & # 39;
Around the souks and streets of Cairo, a sprawling city of 23 million people that normally never sleeps, the coronavirus has been disastrous.
"People do not want to visit stores, they are afraid of the disease. It is the worst year in history, "said Samir El-Khatib, who runs a post next to the historic al-Sayeda Zainab mosque," compared to last year, we have not even sold a quarter. "
During Ramzan, street traders in the Egyptian capital stack their tables with dates and apricots, sweet fruits to break the fast, and the city walls with towers of traditional lanterns known as "fawanees".
But this year, the authorities imposed a night curfew and banned communal prayers and other activities, so not many people see much sense in buying the lanterns.
Among the few who ventured was Nasser Salah Abdelkader, 59, manager of the Egyptian stock market.
"This year there is no encouragement from Ramzan at all," he said. "Usually he came to the market, and from the beginning people used to play music, sit down, almost live on the streets."
By dampening the festivities before they begin, the coronavirus is also complicating another part of Ramzan, a time when both fasting and charity are considered mandatory.
‘ALL KINDS OF TOGETHER LOST & # 39;
In Algeria, restaurant owners wonder how to offer iftar to those in need when their facilities are closed, while charities in Abu Dhabi that have iftar for low-wage South Asian workers are unsure of what to do with mosques. which are now closed.
Mohamed Aslam, an Indian engineer who lives in a three-room apartment in central Abu Dhabi with 14 other people, is unemployed due to the coronavirus. With her apartment building in quarantine after a resident tested positive, she has been trusting the charity for food.
In Senegal, the plan is to continue charity, albeit on a limited basis. In the coastal capital of Dakar, charities that characteristically hand out "Ndogou," chocolate-spread baguettes, 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 meet loved ones remotely this year.
Prabowo, who bears a name, said he will host Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of the fasting month, via online gathering site Zoom instead of flying home.
"I am concerned about the coronavirus," he said. “But all kinds of union will be lost. Without iftar together, without praying together in the mosque, and not even gossiping with friends. "
The holiest month in the Islamic calendar is family and union: community, reflection, charity and prayer.
But with mosques closed, coronavirus curfews, and massive prayer bans from Senegal to Southeast Asia, some 1.8 billion Muslims face a Ramzan like never before.
Across the Muslim world, the pandemic has generated new levels of anxiety before the holy fast month, which begins around Thursday.
In Algiers, Yamine Hermache, 67, generally receives relatives and neighbors at her home for tea and cold drinks during the month that Muslims fast from dusk to dawn. But this year he fears it will be different.
"We can't visit them, and they won't come," she said, crying. "The coronavirus has made everyone fearful, even of distinguished guests."
In a country where mosques have been closed, her husband Mohamed Djemoudi, 73, worries about something else.
"I cannot imagine Ramzan without Tarawih," he said, referring to additional prayers performed in mosques after iftar, the dinner in which Muslims break their fast.
In Jordan, the government, in coordination with neighboring Arab countries, is expected to announce a fatwa describing Ramzan rituals, but for millions of Muslims, it already feels very different.
From Africa to Asia, the coronavirus has cast a shadow of sadness and uncertainty.
‘THE WORST YEAR EVER & # 39;
Around the souks and streets of Cairo, a sprawling city of 23 million people that normally never sleeps, the coronavirus has been disastrous.
"People do not want to visit stores, they are afraid of the disease. It is the worst year in history, "said Samir El-Khatib, who runs a post next to the historic al-Sayeda Zainab mosque," compared to last year, we have not even sold a quarter. "
During Ramzan, street traders in the Egyptian capital stack their tables with dates and apricots, sweet fruits to break the fast, and the city walls with towers of traditional lanterns known as "fawanees".
But this year, the authorities imposed a night curfew and banned communal prayers and other activities, so not many people see much sense in buying the lanterns.
Among the few who ventured was Nasser Salah Abdelkader, 59, manager of the Egyptian stock market.
"This year there is no encouragement from Ramzan at all," he said. "Usually he came to the market, and from the beginning people used to play music, sit down, almost live on the streets."
By dampening the festivities before they begin, the coronavirus is also complicating another part of Ramzan, a time when both fasting and charity are considered mandatory.
‘ALL KINDS OF TOGETHER LOST & # 39;
In Algeria, restaurant owners wonder how to offer iftar to those in need when their facilities are closed, while charities in Abu Dhabi that have iftar for low-wage South Asian workers are unsure of what to do with mosques. which are now closed.
Mohamed Aslam, an Indian engineer who lives in a three-room apartment in central Abu Dhabi with 14 other people, is unemployed due to the coronavirus. With her apartment building in quarantine after a resident tested positive, she has been trusting the charity for food.
In Senegal, the plan is to continue charity, albeit on a limited basis. In the coastal capital of Dakar, charities that characteristically hand out "Ndogou," chocolate-spread baguettes, 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 meet loved ones remotely this year.
Prabowo, who bears a name, said he will host Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of the fasting month, via online gathering site Zoom instead of flying home.
"I am concerned about the coronavirus," he said. “But all kinds of union will be lost. Without iftar together, without praying together in the mosque, and not even gossiping with friends. "
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