Collected Item: “Ramadan Rituals in Times of Covid”
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mohammsa
Title
Ramadan Rituals in Times of Covid
Type of response:
Personal story, social media or blog post, unpublished material, etc.
Date, if any
April 23, 2020
Author (individual or group)
Sabrin Mohammed
Religious organization
ICGC
Religious movement (specify)
Muslim
Religious movement (pick list)
Islam, general
Location:
West Chester Township
Zip Code (US) or Country and Postal code
45069
Your own response:
The holy month of Ramadan comes every year and brings an abundance of joy and connection to each other at the mosque. Taraweeh is the additional prayer after Isha prayer at night where everyone would pray together from 11 pm and would end around 1 or 2 am. This was held every night of Ramadan. Due to COVID-19 our mosque was closed for the holiday this year. This was the first time in years our mosque has been closed down. Instead of meeting in person live streams were held of the Taraweeh prayer.
I remember being crammed by hundreds of other women as we prayed side by side for hours. The children run around in the shoe room so they wouldn’t distract those praying. The breaks between prayers when you would socialize with your friends and mothers spoke to each other. After the long prayer was over I would follow a single file line out the busy doors and then there would be food tents set up that everyone would gather at. Grabbing a plate and filling up your plate with fruits, delicious foods made by the community, and sitting around with my friends. My mother would come outside with a plate in her hand as well and say that it’s time to go home. By this time it was around midnight. We would leave and the next night was the same thing. This year praying Taraweeh to a live stream in my empty living room was hard. The change was drastic and didn’t even feel real. The vibe of the month was off and very isolating. There was no connection within the community and to the holiday this year because of COVID-19.
I remember being crammed by hundreds of other women as we prayed side by side for hours. The children run around in the shoe room so they wouldn’t distract those praying. The breaks between prayers when you would socialize with your friends and mothers spoke to each other. After the long prayer was over I would follow a single file line out the busy doors and then there would be food tents set up that everyone would gather at. Grabbing a plate and filling up your plate with fruits, delicious foods made by the community, and sitting around with my friends. My mother would come outside with a plate in her hand as well and say that it’s time to go home. By this time it was around midnight. We would leave and the next night was the same thing. This year praying Taraweeh to a live stream in my empty living room was hard. The change was drastic and didn’t even feel real. The vibe of the month was off and very isolating. There was no connection within the community and to the holiday this year because of COVID-19.
Do you agree?
Yes