The coronavirus pandemic is cutting off the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims from their cherished Ramadan traditions as health officials battle to ward off new infections during Islam’s holiest month, haunted by multiple outbreaks traced to religious gatherings around the world, The Associated Press reported.
Ramadan, a month of daytime fasting, overnight festivity and communal prayer and giving, begins with the new moon this week and comes in the middle of the worldwide debate over when and how to lift virus restrictions. Keeping the faithful healthy during the entire month poses a whole new challenge, AP notes.
The virus has already disrupted Christianity’s Holy Week, Passover, the Muslim hajj pilgrimage and other major religious events.
“Ramadan is coming, and people have nothing to eat,” said Afghan daily laborer Hamayoon, who goes by only one name. “The government must have some mercy on us and allow people to work at least half a day to be able to feed themselves.”
U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a swift nationwide reopening, Vietnam and New Zealand moved Thursday to end their lockdowns and European leaders were gathering via video later Thursday to try to reinvigorate their virus-crippled economies.
The coronavirus crisis is far from over, however, and the threat of new outbreaks looms large. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed dismay Thursday, criticizing some states for moving “very briskly, if not to say too briskly” in trying to reopen their economies.
“We’re not living in the final phase of the pandemic, but still at the beginning,” Merkel warned ahead of the European Union summit. “Let us not squander what we have achieved and risk a setback. It would be a shame if premature hope ultimately punishes us all.”
Germany has been praised for its proactive approach to the pandemic, testing widely, shutting down citizens’ movement and achieving a much lower reported death toll, at 5,315, than other large European nations.
As Muslim leaders announce the official start of Ramadan, governments are trying to balance health protection with traditions and many have closed mosques or banned collective evening prayers.
In addition to Ramadan’s sunrise-to-sunset fast, families and friends gather for large festive meals at sunset, worshippers go to mosques for hours of evening prayers and communal meals are organized for the poor.
Authorities in the capital of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation, on Thursday extended to May 22 its strict disease-fighting restrictions — covering the whole holy month. Turkey banned communal eating during the holiday and banned Ramadan drummers marking the times for fasting from going door-to-door to collect tips.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan bowed to the country’s religious clerics, refusing to close the mosques despite a warning from the Pakistan Medical Association that such gatherings are like a petri dish to spread the virus in a country that has a fragile health care system.
Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam said Thursday that healthy Muslims have a religious obligation to fast despite the global pandemic — but said coronavirus patients would be “the most eligible” for an exemption.
U.S. authorities have also struggled to reconcile religious freedom with stemming the virus. A federal judge said he will deny a bid by three Southern California churches to hold in-person church services during the pandemic, saying that government’s emergency powers trump what in normal times would be fundamental constitutional rights.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Muslims to “focus on our common enemy — the virus,” and repeated an earlier appeal for an immediate cease-fire for all conflicts.
The U.N. also warned that more than 135 million people were at acute risk of starvation even before COVID-19 appeared. The virus is making that situation worse, leading to massive lines for food banks from the Texas city of El Paso to the Paris suburbs, and hitting Africa especially hard.
“On one hand, the lockdown and lack of jobs, and on the other hand, Ramadan is coming and the prices for all food items have gone up. It is a huge problem for the people,” shopkeeper Noor Alam lamented in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The EU has pledged 20 billion euros ($22 billion) to provide help to vulnerable communities globally. EU leaders were holding a virtual summit Thursday to take stock of the damage the coronavirus has inflicted on the bloc’s own citizens and to thrash out an economic rescue plan.
In China, authorities reported no new deaths and just 10 new cases on Thursday. The country has reopened many businesses. Middle and high school seniors preparing for exams are returning to classes. But a ban on foreign arrivals and strict quarantine measures remain to prevent an influx of new cases from abroad or fresh infections.
The coronavirus has infected more than 2.6 million people and killed over 183,000, including more than 45,000 in the United States, according to a tally compiled by John Hopkins University from official government figures.
The true numbers are undoubtedly far higher, since testing is limited and methods vary for counting the dead. While most people suffer from only mild or moderate symptoms, the elderly and the infirm have been hardest hit by the virus.
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