‘This is too sad’: Muslims mark start of Ramadan under subdued atmosphere amid lockdown

Holy month typically sees day-long fast followed by lavish meals and get-togethers, but many have been confined to their homes and mosques have closed

Muslims around the world have started the holy month of Ramadan under lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The holy month typically sees a day-long fast followed by lavish meals and get-togethers in the evening with friends and family, but this year many people have been confined to their homes and mosques have closed.

Worshippers have been told to pray at home during the holy month.

On Thursday, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, thanked Muslims for their “sacrifice”.

”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,” he said.

“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.”

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has urged the faithful to “pray at home and share Ramadan digitally”.

It published guidance saying ”will be a very different experience for Muslims” this year “as we adapt to changing circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic”.

It said it was unlikely there will be “congregational acts of worship for Muslims outside of the home” as mosques remain closed.

Those celebrating were instructed to follow the government’s social distancing rules by sharing meals ending fasting (Iftar) with family over FaceTime rather than in person.

People have also been advised to be mindful in their shopping habits, planning meals in advance to limit the number of trips, and avoiding stocking up to “allow for everyone to acquire that they need”.

The festive season, in which Muslims fast and reflect, began under a subdued and sombre attitude on Friday.

“This is too sad to be remembered in history,” said Belm Febriansyah, a resident in the capital of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, told Reuters.

Muslim-majority countries began imposing widespread restrictions in mid-March, with many cancelling Friday prayers and closing holy sites.

Saudi Arabia has largely locked down the holy sites of Mecca and Medina and halted the year-round umrah pilgrimage.

On Friday, the Saudi-led coalition said it would extend a unilateral a cease-fire with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels through Ramadan. Fighting has continued however, with each side blaming the other.

Speaking on the eve of Ramadan, Malaysia’s prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, said the “jihad,” or holy war, against the pandemic has shown results but must continue.

Malaysia, along with neighbouring Singapore and Brunei, has banned popular Ramadan bazaars, where food, drinks and clothing are sold in congested open-air markets or roadside stalls.

In Pakistan, the prime minister, Imran Khan, has bowed to pressure from the country’s powerful clerical establishment and allowed mosques to remain open. Some clerics have ordered their followers to pack into mosques, saying their faith will protect them.

A key element of Ramadan is charity, with the fast partly intended to cultivate empathy for the needy. But many countries have imposed bans on communal meals, forcing charities to organise home deliveries instead.

In Turkey, authorities have banned the tradition of setting up tents and outdoor tables to provide free meals to the poor. It has also forbidden drummers from going door to door to wake people up for the pre-dawn meal in exchange for tips — another Ramadan tradition.

“It’s going to be different and difficult in certain circumstances, but Islam is a very flexible religion, it covers for all circumstances, so the usual worship we would do in mosques, we can do them at home, there’s no harm in that given the situation,” Farhad Ahmad, an Imam at Fazl Mosque in London, told The Independent earlier this week.

“During Ramadan we increase our worship, doing more goodness towards others, paying more to charity. So in a way, given everybody is now at home already, you’re self-isolating or in quarantine, that is sort of a natural phenomena that usually happens in Ramadan anyway, as people become more devout and less social anyway.

“It’s a bit different to what some people think about Ramadan. Being forced into it is not the ideal situation, Ramadan doesn’t say don’t go to work or see your friends, but at the same time, there’s an emphasis to reflect on life, spend more time worshipping God, so this opportunity has made us more aware that we can do this more comfortably.”

He said there was “concern” about Eid-al-Fitr, the festival to mark the end of fasting, which will now be “a completely different experience” given many will be unable to travel to be with their families.

Additional reporting by agencies