Labaran Yusuf
SIR: At the moment, the nearly two billion Muslims around the world have started the fasting of the holy month of Ramadan under various forms of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has crippled the global economy and overwhelmed even the best healthcare systems around the world.
It has also so far infected more than three million people worldwide of which more than 200,000 have died, although about one million people have recovered.
The new coronavirus – believed to have originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan – has not only paralysed the world, it has changed the way people pray and worship.
The virus’s latest victim appears to be the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth lunar month of the Islamic calendar, and Muslim month of fasting.
This Ramadan, mosques around the world won’t be filled with people for the nightly congregational prayers. Nor will the faithful be able to meet in large numbers for communal iftar meals.
This comes as nations take precautions – including banning public gatherings, imposing lockdowns and closing mosques – to halt the spread of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
In many Muslim-majority nations and countries with sizable Muslim populations, mosques have been closed and the call to prayer for many is observed at home.
In Saudi Arabia for example, authorities have ban mass gatherings and have encouraged people to pray at home to avoid spreading the virus, that’s particularly deadly in people of over 65 years of age and those with underlying health conditions.
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Only a handful of worshippers now pray at the holy Masjid al-Haram in Makkah. While in the United Kingdom, where mosques have largely adopted online prayer services, the BBC begins broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer (adhan) for Muslims staying at home.
In Nigeria, authorities have enforced lockdown measures and have restricted public gatherings. Mosques have also been closed to worshippers, especially for large congregational prayers and Ramadan public lectures.
In Pakistan however, mosques still remain opened for worshippers although under strict government-imposed social distancing rules.
Surely, these are difficult times. Artisans and other hand-to-mouth traders are finding it difficult to survive as most have lost their source of livelihoods due to lockdown measures.
As one of the aim of the fasting of Ramadan is to help bring Muslims closer to the poor and those who feel hunger on a regular basis, I call on the rich to make good use of the wealth God has blessed them with to help the poor and needy in this blessed month.
Let’s not forget the internally displaced persons in Northern Nigeria, the Rohingya in refugee camps in Bangladesh, the besieged Palestinians in Gaza, the persecuted Uighurs in Chinese concentration camps, the displaced people in war-ravaged Syria, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan and the blockaded Kashmiris.
- Labaran Yusuf, Jos.
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