Although it’s usually a community affair, my family and I greeted them quietly Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, alone in our living room when the sun went down on April 23. Instead of hearing an imam call to prayer that ushered in 30 days of increased spiritual reflection, we listened as the call came in through a prayer app on our cell phones.
So our journey began to avoid all food and drink, including water, during the day and to focus on strengthening our relationship with God through prayer and reflection.
Ramadan is different this year.
Shelter-in-place means that worship in the mosque is over. So invite friends to “iftar”, ” the food that breaks dawn quickly. A holiday that is supposed to bring the community together is observed apart.
But not alone. Throughout Ramadan, Muslim religious leaders have used Instagram Live and Facebook to give lectures and ask questions and answers. Community centers and friends host virtual iftars on Zoom, where people share their experiences and offer religious reflections when they break the fast. Fundraisers for mosques and charities, which usually take place during nightly community prayers, are fully digitized.
How the COVID-19 pandemic Life has brought the faith communities together. Christians celebrated Easter by participating in virtual services on Zoom and Facebook Live. Jews around the world visited Virtual Seders for Passover. Muslims have used the same technologies to celebrate Ramadan, which ends on May 23.
Even before the novel corona virus, technology was intertwined with the lives of believers. A YouGov survey conducted in January in the Middle East and North Africa found that 45% of respondents expects the use of social media apps to increase during Ramadan. Less than a quarter expected a decline.
New circumstances have allowed Mariam Khan, a UCLA medical student who is currently with her family in San Jose, California, to reshape their relationship with God. She has seen Islamic lectures on YouTube and read the Koran, the sacred text of Muslims, to focus on inner spiritual reflection.
“So many of my spiritual practices during Ramadan are about going to the local mosque and praying the night prayers,” Khan said. “I have always felt closest to God in the community, but this was a complete re-evaluation of the search for different ways to get close to God.”
Since the beginning of the block, religious institutions like that Islamic Center at NYU have also offered virtual alternatives to the non-religious activities that members rely on, such as fitness and mental wellness programs and stories for children.
Suhaib Webb, researcher at ICNYU and associate professor at New York University, has long been an avid social media user in his religious work and is nicknamed “The Snapchat Imam“In recent years, he has relied heavily on Instagram to share religious knowledge and participate in questions and answers through followers via stories or Instagram Live. Webb also uses Zoom to teach virtually, and even has a wedding on the video platform At personal meetings that were out of the question for the foreseeable future, Webb said this was an opportunity for social media to strengthen and really strengthen the community.
“One of her dreams was to see how deeper connections could be made,” said Webb, referring to the early creators of social media. “Now I think we’re there.”
A surprising peace
As Ramadan approached this year, I was concerned about being able to do all the rituals on my own. I was afraid that I would not be motivated to do the nightly prayers, which are voluntarily but strongly recommended, at home or to read the Koran and listen to lectures in my spare time. These were all practices that I had been motivated to do with a little push from friends and community members in recent years.
On the first night of Ramadan, some of my friends and I jumped into a WhatsApp video call at midnight (sleep plans are usually discarded in Ramadan) and talked about our goals. We all wanted to read more about the Quran and pray more, and we motivated each other and shared our victories through group chats.
I discovered a surprising level of inner peace, motivation and concentration during Ramadan. Virtual lectures are just as moving as personal ones. A message is not watered down just because it is shared on YouTube. I am inspired by Instagram and Facebook posts from friends and religious leaders about finding faith and strength in uncertain times, which underlines that we are all together.
So many distractions have been removed. If I don’t have to commute or work in an office, I save energy and time that I can use for worship instead. I can sleep a little bit more everything if you go out to eat for 16 hours. I was inspired to read more and learn more about my faith, and the additional prayers were surprisingly easy to follow. I realized that I didn’t have to rely on the presence of others to achieve my religious goals, which was inspiring. I feel more independent.
Still, I’m grateful not to be all alone. I am not only happy to stay in touch with friends through social media, but also happy to be with my family now. I have also participated in conversations with religious leaders across the country, which is possible because they are all online. I even visited a couple of Zoom Iftars and made new friends.
Of course, the Internet cannot replace everything. There is something to say when I am in the physical presence of others in my local mosque, and I miss the beautiful, flowing Quranic recitation of our Imam. I miss going to other people’s homes and inviting them to me.
Ayman Suhrawardy from Windsor, Canada, has trouble not going to the mosque, which is five minutes from his home and is a frequent place for prayers and events.
“Being physically there,” he said, creates “a different mindset” that technology cannot replace. “Seeing people around you encourages you to be more active.”
Loubna Moujahid, who is at home in London with her three children, is the same, but is grateful that she can stay connected with friends and relatives via WhatsApp. She said the separation helped to strengthen one of the key components of Ramadan.
“I’m more patient,” said Moujahid. “It was very difficult at the beginning, but we got used to it.”
Adjustments across beliefs
Muslims are not alone when it comes to adapting to the new reality. Amanda Jacobsmeyer has been leading the zoom meetings of her Harlem-based church every Sunday since mid-March. She invited me to one of the weekly sermons last month.
Dozens of people sign up every week at 11 a.m., some still wrapped in blankets and hugging coffee cups, others leaning against their kitchen tables in button-down shirts and ties. After an opening prayer and thanks for the “technology that brings us together,” Bishop Walter Rane delivered a sermon on the benefits of a slowdown and growth from the current situation.
“There is nothing in this experience that I would have asked for, but I think I will be better for it,” he said. “Adversity is often a call to do something great with our lives … I think this experience will be for our best.”
Churches and other places of worship were live streaming services.
Getty ImagesJacobsmeyer said that although these virtual sermons feel different, they restore a little sense of the much-needed normality. “It helped us to stay connected as a community,” she said.
Other institutions like Northview Church in Indiana have held weekend services online. Maddie Hall, communications director at Northview, said virtual attendance was equal to or greater than personal attendance.
“When there is a crisis, people are more likely to turn to faith and what can give them hope and joy and support them during this time,” said Hall. “Since they can watch anytime and anywhere, they tune in more regularly.”
The biggest challenge, she said, is that people don’t see each other in real life and many suffer from screen fatigue, especially when they have been on zoom calls all day to work. Still, they’re willing to put the time and effort into keeping in touch with their community in every way possible.
Even though Jewish law precludes the use of technology on the Passover (with some rabbis recommending instead Pre-seder gatherings via zoom) others chose to use technology to connect with relatives. Katie Jacobs and her family in Chicago hosted a virtual Passover Seder over Zoom last month after plans to go to their grandparents’ house were discarded. Her father assigned passages of the Haggadah to read by various people, and her mother shared a virtual copy on the screen. Around two dozen people were present, and everyone chatted and then had dinner together.
Mordechai Lightstone, a New York-based rabbi and founder of Tech tribeThe Coronavirus, a community for Jews in technical and digital media, said the Coronavirus had given them the ability to focus on internal practices and prayers, rather than weekly worship services that must be performed personally under Jewish law. Community members have also stepped up efforts to reach each other by providing meals and medical care during this crisis.
“People are pushing for everyone to be safe,” said Lightstone, “and that we can all help each other, not just in the Jewish community but as a global community.”
This sense of togetherness, both inside and outside the religious communities, can be one of the greatest results of this pandemic. Ramadan is a time to put personal desires aside and focus on the needs of others. The global health crisis has clearly brought this into focus. Those of us who have food and shelter have the opportunity to help those who do not. This Ramadan has urged us to be more thoughtful and thankful for what we have and to reassess what is really important.
In the absence of personal gatherings, I never once felt alone or really separated from my loved ones. How could I if we all called and texted each other to wish each other a blessed month? As Webb put it: “This can be a moment for us to come together and heal through this type of deeper connection.”
In all these moments of calm, praying at home, and breaking the fast with the immediate family, I discovered a feeling of peace that I would not have found under normal circumstances. When life is at a break, there is little that could distract you from the blessings that were always before you.
Originally published on May 19, 5 a.m. PT.