With the COVID-19 pandemic overlapping with the holy month of Ramadan, the city’s – and country’s – muslim people have had to adapt how they take part in the festivities.
Spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Saskatoon, Mubarik Syed, says this is a month of “great significance” in the Islam religion. People participating in Ramadan will fast during the daylight hours each day as a “refresher course, both spiritually and physically” for muslim people. The month also focuses on charity, prayers and the creating of a “bond of brotherhood and sisterhood” through coming together and socializing with one another.
“But unfortunately this year because of this COVID-19 pandemic we will not be able to get together physically following the rules and regulations set by the government and health authority,” said Syed.
“So we at Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada took the initiative this year called virtual Ramadan to keep the spirit and essence of Ramadan well and alive and under this.”
Virtual Ramadan was kicked off on Saturday with a national Iftar, which is the dinner at sunset each day to break the fast. According to Syed, thousands of people from across the country took part in the event including, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Saskatoon’s mayor Charlie Clark.
Being a world wide community, Syed says the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at already uses online platforms to stream services each week. But doing it for Ramadan is a brand new experience for everybody.
“So the overall idea of doing things virtually is not very new to us but as far as Ramadan is concerned and the festivities of Ramadan are concerned this is the first time that we have launched such a program, such an initiative as virtual Ramadan,” he said.
“I hope this is the first time and the last time in our lifetime that we are going through this terrible time.”
However, as difficult as this pandemic has been for many people, Syed sees a silver lining to the pandemic and this holy month overlapping.
“This is actually a great time that Ramadan fell in the time of this pandemic. This is a month of lots of prayers and we will be praying for our frontline heroes. Our doctors, our police, our fire, everybody else that is doing their best to keep their necessities met,” said Syed.
“So we will be praying for them, we will be praying for our province and for our beautiful country Canada and the world during this month and that is the silver lining that I’m looking forward to.”
Syed asks for anyone interested in participating in the rest of the month’s festivities or just wanting to learn more about Ramadan and the Islam religion to visit virtualramadan.ca.