Ramadan Under Lockdown: Muslims Adapt to Pandemic Restrictions

Many Muslim believers will have to change the way they live the month of Ramadan. No gatherings for large evening meals (iftar), no night prayer at the mosque (tarawih), no late-night meetings with friends, no travel to the holy cities of Islam.

In the Middle East for example, confinement is widespread with strict restrictive measures supported in most cases by the religious authorities. "Our hearts are weeping," laments the muezzin of the Grand Mosque of Mecca, deserted. Apart from individual measures in each country, the World Health Organization (WHO) had already suggested "the cancellation of social and religious gatherings", including "in places associated with Ramadan activities, such as places of entertainment, markets and shops". However, it specifies that confinement does not exempt Muslims "in good health" from fasting "as in previous years".

In Iran, Turkey and Russia, the Muslim community is called "to avoid any gathering, without neglecting prayer". In Kosovo and Albania, two countries with a very strong Muslim community, "the faithful are asked to observe religious rites at home". It’s the same in France, Austria, Germany and Bulgaria.

In Germany, mosques will remain closed, even if "the gradual lifting of restrictions is planned in the coming weeks". Instead of gatherings and prayers at the mosque, Berlin places of worship plan "Quranic recitations", "prayers" and "online sermons". In the Netherlands, Ramadan prayer services will be broadcast live to the faithful.

Sub-Saharan Africa is not spared the wave of confinement and closure of mosques. Senegal, a country that is more than 90% Muslim, is preparing for an equally special Ramadan, with a ban on collective prayers and the closure of mosques. If it were not for the coronavirus pandemic, Ramadan is "traditionally a period of meetings and travel". But this will not be possible this year, as travel between cities is prohibited by the authorities.

While in some countries the Muslim community is facilitating the task of the authorities, in other countries like those in Asia, health safety measures are more difficult to implement. "Faith sometimes takes precedence over any other consideration". This is the case in Pakistan where "imams have convinced the authorities not to close places of worship".

In Bangladesh, religious leaders have brushed aside the health recommendations of the authorities, who have called for reducing the attendance of mosques. "Islam does not support the imposition of any quota of believers," declared an imam belonging to one of the main groups of imams in the country.