(PBS) – Muslim families are celebrating a second pandemic Ramadan his week will mark the end of Ramadan for Muslim families across the world, and even though vaccinations, mask mandates and social distancing have slowed the spread of COVID-19 in much of the United States, the pandemic is still hampering what’s meant to be a deeply communal holiday.
For Rizwan Bhatti and his wife Farah, that means they’ve spent the last two holidays in the close company of their three teenage children at home in Southern California. “We miss a lot of the opportunities we normally had to socialize with our community, friends and family,” said Farah.
A major holiday for over 2 million followers of Islam in the U.S., Ramadan is commonly observed by fasting each day of the holiday, from sunrise to sunset, often broken by large meals, called iftar, held at community centers or in people’s homes.
Rizwan explained that it’s a way to refocus on what’s important in life and be thankful for what you have. “It’s really an opportunity to reconnect with God, a recharging of your spirituality,” he said.
It’s also a time when observers visit their mosque or community center almost every day and focus their energies on charitable acts. These rituals make the season an extremely hectic and social period, filled with time spent with family and friends. Inevitably, the social distancing measures needed to curb the virus have harshly limited traditional observances, especially at centers of prayer.
Inside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix (ICCP), a lot of the familiar staples of the pandemic era can be found beside traditional essentials of the mosque.
Next to water bottles and religious pamphlets are hand sanitizer and disposable face masks. On the floor, where repeating patterns designated an individual’s space for prayer, there is blue tape marking the socially-distanced area of worship.
“We’re trying to compromise and find a balance between spiritual needs and being safe,” said Usama Shami, the chairman of the board at the center in Phoenix.
These scenes are occuring in mosques and community centers all over the world as Muslims observe the second Ramadan season during the COVID-19 pandemic.
