Muslims look to adapt with Ramadan events cancelled

Not having community aspect this year ‘is going to be challenging’

This week is usually when kids in the Muslim community get excited about an annual trip to see the new moon that marks the start of Ramadan, says Cindy Jadayel, a member of the Mosque of Mercy in Ottawa.

But she says it’ll be one of many community events that will be cancelled during Ramadan this year.

The month of Ramadan — in which Muslims go without food or drink from sunrise to sunset every day — often features gatherings where families and friends break fast and pray together. It’s set to start on Thursday based on the Islamic lunar calendar, and will last until May 23.

The moon-sighting trip follows an early tradition where religious leaders would declare the start of the new month.

“(Kids) get excited about it,” said Jadayel, who works on the committee for the Mosque of Mercy.

“There’s times when you drive out and you see something, that it’s a new month,” she said, adding that there’s always a sense of suspense because it can often be too cloudy to see the moon.

Those events, as well as nightly congregational prayers and community events at the mosque, will be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not having the community aspect of Ramadan this year “is going to be challenging,” Jadayel said.

“We have to work harder this year to have families happier in the home because we can’t go out and celebrate with others.”

Sallah Hamdani, a former president of the Islamic Society of St. Catharines, says Muslims will try to look on the bright side of the time alone this year.

“You might not have to focus on hosting a dinner,” said Hamdani, noting it can be stressful to prepare elaborate dinners at home while already dealing with a fast. “Instead, you can enjoy that dinner or breaking the fast with your immediate family and creating a new custom that you probably had not implemented previously.”

Muslim communities across Canada have already seen sweeping changes as physical distancing rules came into effect last month.

Daily prayers and weekly sermons have been cancelled, as well as Arabic classes, day camps and Qur’an readings that are often hosted by mosques.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE AFP/GETTY IMAGES Iraqis buy Ramadan decorations at a market in Baghdad on Tuesday. In Canada, many of the events that usually accompany the holy fasting month, which begins Thursday, will be cancelled.