6 ft. apart- Another distanced Ramadan in Asia

Leen Ahmed

With the never-ending tirades of Covid-19 cases that began in early 2020, every religious or cultural celebration since then has been kept under wraps as much as possible. It can be argued that Ramadan of 2021 in Asia feels slightly better than the complete lack of community that fasting Muslims felt before.

CNN reports, “Once again, Muslim communities will try to come together while staying physically apart. It's a challenge that many devout Muslims, determined to observe all the tenets of this holy month, say they are up for.” This statement closely reflects the expectations of Muslims around the world, this time around.

Norsafizar Sofia, a fellow Malaysian Taylorian, says that her faith had taken a hit during last Ramadan when there was no opportunity to feel any sense of togetherness with the Muslim community.

When explaining her situation (that unfortunately a lot of Muslim students can relate to) she says “We would try to pray taraweekh at home but of course, it never worked out. And what, with online classes being what it is, uni and club meetings took up hours in the night and I can’t abandon that either.”

Luckily, she also admits that things are a lot better, now that we have gotten more or less used to living in a pandemic.

Zeba Amina, a Taylorian from India, who has been stuck in her home country due to the international travel SOP, ever since leaving Malaysia during mid 2020, agrees that her religious health is faring significantly better this year.

Muslims praying in mosque in India according to distancing rules

Source: Outlook Magazine

“I’ve started joining online classes where we discuss the Quran in detail and that’s something that has been really helping me,” she says when asked about the activities that take up her time during this Ramadan.

Mariyam Saba, a Maldivian student in Monash University, said “Yes, life is still not the same and it’s unlikely for things to go back to normal anytime soon.”

“But things could be a lot worse...my heart goes out to the French Muslim community who are truly struggling.”

For many like Saba, this Ramadan has been about counting your blessings and making light of a hard situation as much as possible.