For the members of the Muslim community in Timmins, celebrating Ramadan this year will be quite different due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of gathering at the mosque for prayers and evening meals, they will use technology to celebrate Ramadan by reading the Quran online, hosting virtual iftars and attending online lectures led by imams from the Islamic Society of North America.
“The major goal of this month is to pray and to celebrate it the same way the God recommended," said Waleed Zahra, a board member of the Timmins Islamic Centre.
“It’s not a matter of a place to pray … It’s not worth getting somebody infected. We’re here in a small community. If something happened, then it’s not going to be good for everybody, not just for the (Muslim) community.”
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims across the world abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. In addition to fasting, they spend time praying, reading the Quran and doing charitable work.
This year, Ramadan starts April 24 and ends May 23.
Zahra said it is going to be a big change from how Ramadan is usually observed.
“In my personal experience, it’s the first time to face the quarantine system like this and to keep isolation from the community,” Zahra said in a phone interview.
“We sent recommendations to all the people in the community to take advantage of this time and educate themselves at home about this (pandemic). Look online for family activities during Ramadan. It’s important to keep everybody active.”
Another Timmins resident, Moustapha Kori Mbami, shared the same sentiment saying that during his lifetime Ramadan has never been celebrated at home.
“Ramadan this year is going to be a little bit tough for everybody,” he said. “I have never seen it (like this) before but it is what is. There’s nothing much we can do.”
In Timmins, Zahra said the board usually makes all the arrangements a month before Ramadan.
Last year, they got together for iftar, an evening meal with which they break their fasting at sunset. On the weekends, they held potlucks at the Islamic Centre inviting everyone from the community to join them.
The Islamic Centre also invited two people – called hafiz – from the Jam’e Abu Bakr Siddique Masjid in Scarborough to cite the Quran during Taraweeh prayers. Local families provided them with accommodation and food.
When the first provincial emergency orders for COVID-19 came out in March, which initially banned public events of more than 50 people, the board cancelled prayers in the mosque in order to keep everybody safe despite that there are fewer than 50 Muslims in the community, Kori Mbami said.
"All we can do is behave (well), be kind, be a person with moral and spend time with your family," he said. "And pray at home."
For both Zahra and Kori Mbami, food is one of the best parts of Ramadan.
“People come and bring their own traditional food and we enjoy it together,” Zahra said.
