Virus fears, curfews disrupt Eid Al Fitr celebrations

Lockdown orders intended to contain the pandemic mean there will be no congregational prayers at mosques or even open fields, no family reunions, no relatives bearing gifts for children.

Muslims around the world on Sunday began celebrating Eid Al Fitr, a normally festive holiday marking the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, with millions under strict stay-at-home orders and many fearing renewed coronavirus outbreaks.

The three-day holiday is usually a time of travel, family get-togethers and lavish daytime feasts after weeks of dawn-to-dusk fasting. But this year many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims will have to pray at home and make due with video calls.

Some countries, including Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, have imposed round-the-clock holiday curfews. But even where many restrictions have been lifted, celebrations will be subdued because of fears of the pandemic and its economic fallout.

Saudi Arabia, home to the Holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, is under a complete lockdown, with residents only permitted to leave their homes to purchase food and medicine.

In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli police said they broke up an “illegal demonstration” and arrested two people outside the Al Aqsa Mosque, which Muslim authorities have closed for prayers since mid-march and will not reopen until after the holiday. Worshippers who tried to enter the compound scuffled with the police.

In Gaza, Hamas authorities allowed prayers in mosques despite the enclave’s first coronavirus death on Saturday, but worshippers mostly wore masks and placed their prayer mats far apart.

“Eid is not Eid with the atmosphere of coronavirus — people feel a sense of fear,” worshipper Akram Taher said.

In the Syrian capital Damascus, Eid shoppers had rummaged through flea markets for clothes at bargain prices as the war-ravaged and sanctions-hit country grapples with a much more entrenched economic crisis.

“The flea market is the only place I can buy something new to wear for the Eid holidays,” 28-year-old Sham Alloush said. “Had it not been for this place, I wouldn’t have been able to buy new clothes at all.”

In Sudan, which has reported more than 3,600 cases and 146 deaths, thousands of people gathered for prayers in mosques and open areas, defying a curfew and other restrictions imposed by authorities, local media reported.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has reported nearly 22,000 infections and 1,350 fatalities, the most in Southeast Asia.

Lockdown orders intended to contain the pandemic mean there will be no congregational prayers at mosques or even open fields, no family reunions, no relatives bearing gifts for children.

“This outbreak is not just dampening spirits of Eid, but also has made the tradition entirely different,” said Andieka Rabbani, a university student in Jakarta. This year, like many Indonesians, he will only see family and friends through video calls.

In neighbouring Muslim-majority Malaysia, businesses have mostly reopened after weeks of lockdown. But mass gatherings are still banned and people are not allowed to travel back to their hometowns for the holiday. Police have turned away more than 5,000 cars and have warned of strict penalties for those who try to sneak home.

Malaysians are only allowed to visit relatives who live nearby, and only on Sunday, with gatherings limited to 20 people. Mosques have reopened but are limited to small congregations of up to 30. Malaysia has reported 7,185 infections and 115 deaths.

Rohaizam Zainuddin said he felt blessed he could celebrate Eid with his elderly parents living nearby, but his sister in another state could not return home.

“We are frustrated that celebration this year is not the same,” he said. “But there is no point getting angry. We just have to accept it, life goes on.”

He and his family members are still wearing new clothes and preparing traditional dishes. Plates of cookies are set out for any visitors, alongside a thermometer and hand sanitizer.

Some 2,000 Muslims gathered for Eid Al Fitr prayers at a sports complex in the Paris suburb of Levallois-perret, carefully spaced apart and wearing masks, according to France-info radio. Traditional embraces were not allowed.

France is allowing religious services to resume for the first time since March, but France’s leading Muslim organisation, CFCM, advised mosques to stay closed Sunday. The CFCM said the government decree didn’t give mosques enough time to procure masks and hand gel to ensure that gatherings don’t turn into super-spreading events.