So, the Christians had Easter during lockdown, the Jewish people had passover during lockdown, the Sikhs had vaisakhi during lockdown and now us Muslims are having the month of Ramadan during lockdown.
But before I go into how lockdown will affect the month of Ramadan- I'll explain what Ramadan is for those of you who don't know.
What Is Ramadan?
Ramadan is a holy month in Islam, where Muslims fast from sunrise up until sunset. This means we don't eat or drink water from sunrise up until sunset. This is the ninth month of the Islamic year and every year the date of Ramadan changes because the Islamic calendar is based off of the moon cycles.
How Do We Celebrate Ramadan?
As I said previously we will fast from sunrise to sunset. And when sunset comes, we will read a dua (a type of prayer) and break our fast with something sweet- like a kajoor (a date). After we break our fast, we'll have an evening meal we call this Iftar.
Usually we either have Iftar with our families at home or sometimes we might gather at the Masjid as a community to pray and eat together.
Then before sunrise we will have a meal we call this meal suhoor, as our breakfast really, to help keep us going throughout the day ahead.
And sometimes after Iftar people just snack and eat up until sunrise.
But it's not just fasting we do.
We pray more, try and self reflect and spirtually reflect too, we attempt to give up our bad habits, and help the needy and spend time with our families.
So How Will Lockdown Affect Ramadan?
Lockdown will definitely have an impact on Ramadan.
We can't gather at the Masjid for prayers or iftar because that is a mass gathering and given the current situation that is not safe.
And given all the food shortages going around lately, we probably won't be able to have as much food as we usually do have during iftar.
Is That a Bad Thing?
Well it just depends on your outlook of life.
Some may say it's a bad thing because they'll miss gathering with the Muslim community, to pray and have iftar with.
But many are saying actually a positive can come out of this. With not being able to gather and not being able to feast like we usually do- it is actually more like how our prophet and early adopters of Islam would celebrate Ramadan.
Because back in those days, there was no huge Muslim community to pray with at a mosque, instead they just stayed at home with their families, prayed, and ate. And I imagine their Iftar meals wouldn't have been feasts like ours are today.
So really it's like we get to step into their shoes a little bit, I suppose.
And maybe now that the gathering at the Masjid is taken away from us, we will appreciate it more when we can gather and pray and have iftar together again.
Any Last Words?
I'm definitely going to be writing more Ramadan MyTakes, for you guys.
To my Muslim sisters and brothers of G@G and the internet I hope you all have a wonderful Ramadan so here's an early Ramadan Kareem from me. Remember keep social distancing and pray at home, just stay at home- our health and others health is really important.
And if you feel ill please don't fast especially if you are showing symptoms of COVID-19, remember our health always comes before anything else Allah (God) would want us to protect our lives at all costs.
And that goes for everyone actually whether you're Muslim or not please keep safe, keep socially distancing for your health, please try and stay healthy and stay at home.
I hope you are all healthy, happy and safe and stay that way! ^_^
Thank you for reading :) <3
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