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player ready...Like most things derailed by the coronavirus’s many restrictions on regular life, Ramadan 2021 is no different. No large prayer gatherings at the mosque, no visiting with friends and family, no iftar parties or potlucks and no anticipating that triple hug combo on Eid.
Yet as Muslims everywhere embark on a second pandemic Ramadan, many are hoping to make the most of another opportunity to focus on the real purpose of the Islamic holy month, which can get buried beneath the deep-fried food and weekly get-togethers.
Saba Khan, a periodontal surgeon and newly elected village trustee for Morton Grove, is looking forward to spending the month with her family without distractions. Instead of going to the mosque for taraweeh, which involves reading long portions of the Quran each night, she’s setting up space for a small prayer congregation in her basement.
“We usually see Ramadan as a time of celebration with prayers, but it’s a lot about, ‘What are we going to cook for iftar? Where’s the next party? What am I going to wear?”’ Khan said. “Now with the pandemic, it feels like OK, let’s get our act together and be grateful that we don’t have to be somewhere during it. Down the road, I really hope we all remember what the true essence of Ramadan is.”
Khan admits she’ll miss the meals with extended family, but mostly she’ll miss her mom’s aloo pakoras — thinly sliced potatoes, dipped in batter and deep-fried until crispy.
“My kids love those since they were introduced to them by my mom, and every Ramadan she comes from Canada, but she wasn’t able to come last year and won’t be coming this year. I really miss that,” Khan said. “Can’t have iftar without them, and the whole year we never make it,” she laughs.
Ramadan begins on Tuesday based on the lunar calendar, but if the new moon is not physically seen on the night of the 12th, many orthodox observers won’t start fasting until the 14th. Every day for 30 days, Muslims who are able will begin their fast before sunrise with the traditional early morning meal called sehri, and break fast with a sunset meal known as iftar. The fast can last from 10 to 21 hours depending on where you live in the world. In most parts of the United States, it’s about 15 to 16 hours. (No, not even water)
“The fasting, the not eating and not drinking, that’s the easy part,” said Tarik El-Amin, imam at Masjid Al-Taqwa. “But the mental discipline … that’s challenging.”
El-Amin said he’s been encouraging members of his community to start getting into “Ramadan shape” as the focus shifts to renewing faith. Most people pore over the Quran, as it is believed to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad during this month, and many reach into their pockets to offer zakat, an obligatory charity.
“Try to increase your reading and reflection, go out of your way and make it a point to do some charitable act and think about pleasing Allah in that moment. It’s about exercising those spiritual muscles and being intentional about it,” he said.
Masjid Al-Taqwa, which serves a large Muslim community on the South Side of Chicago and the south suburbs, is moving into a new property at 9333 S. Escanaba Ave. right in time for Ramadan. El-Amin and his organizers are planning to do Friday afternoon prayers and drive-thru iftars every Friday evening in Ramadan in the mosque’s outdoor lot.
“As challenging as last Ramadan was, we got the sense that a lot of people appreciated the opportunity to step back. They found a silver lining in it,” he added. “I know everybody’s home situation is different, but quite a few folks were like, ‘Man, this is the first time I prayed with my family the entire month.'”
Pivoting the usual way of things to fit a month of worship during a pandemic is a responsibility felt strongly by Kamran Hussain, president of the Muslim Community Center in Chicago, and Lateef Syed, general secretary of Mahdavia Islamic Center of Chicago.
In the midst of mapping out the safest way to hold communal prayers, Hussain turned the mosque into a vaccine clinic, while Syed’s team recently wrapped up a community blood drive and continues to organize rent relief programs and food pantries to provide for those in need.
On Sunday, the Muslim Community Center administered 500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at the mosque, and has plans to administer 1,000 Pfizer doses at the Morton Grove location on Saturday. Both Muslims and non-Muslims are welcome.
With more and more people getting vaccinated against COVID-19, there is certainly less anxiety this time around. Some families might feel comfortable having a small backyard iftar while mosques slowly reopen their doors. Last Ramadan, most places had an imam pray at the mosque along with two or three staff members and livestreamed the prayer every night.
“This Ramadan will be kind of like a hybrid. We’re not doing meals at the mosque, but we are doing nightly prayers in a limited and condensed capacity,” Hussain said. “We have to make the most of it and hopefully if we all play our part, next year we can go back to normal.”
Those who want to pray taraweeh at the Muslim Community Center are required to wear masks and bring their own prayer rugs. They will also need to register each day on a first-come, first-served basis to join the socially distanced congregation.
Not having the usual mobility shakes up just about anyone’s consciousness. Add in a spiritual month free of typical socializing and you find yourself digging deeper and deeper to find meaning, said Meriem Sadoun, a creative project manager and writer in Chicago.
“I think last Ramadan for me was more of a vertical growth versus a horizontal growth,” she said. “I also feel that when I pray taraweeh on my own at home, I feel more connected to the prayer, whereas at the mosque I feel like I’m relying on the sheikh to lead me through and I’m just standing there.”
And while Ramadan is a shared experience, it’s also personal in how people observe the month and what they do leading up to it.
For Ambreen Ahmed, founder of the Indian sweet-filled bonbons, Simply Mithai, the days preceding Ramadan are dedicated to cleaning every crevice of her home to welcome the good tidings, and sending her customers and loved ones homemade, hand-painted chocolates bursting with nostalgic flavors.
“Growing up — dates, walnuts, sesame, those were the flavors. And whenever I think of Ramadan, Rooh Afza is one thing that always comes to mind,” Ahmed said.
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Rooh Afza is a sweet, bright red, rose-scented syrup that’s refreshing when stirred into a glass of ice-cold milk after a day’s fast. It’s one of those things, like Khan’s aloo pakoras, that’s strictly reserved for Ramadan. Dahi vada — lentil dumplings, deep-fried and soaked in yogurt — is another Ramadan staple that just doesn’t have the same charm outside of the month.
In a time mostly spent not eating, Muslims end up talking and thinking a lot about food and what to make next. Especially during a pandemic, food has a way of supplementing the lack of human connection.
Imam El-Amin said his hope for Muslims is that through the experience of fasting and self-restraint and the experience of discomfort, hunger and loss, they learn to be more compassionate toward others and more intentional about the relationships they tend to.
“It’s all a matter of perception. If we choose to look at what’s been taken away from us, then it’s very easy to miss what we still have.”