Locked inside homes and distanced from the community, is quarantined Ramazan a chance to redeem your spirituality in solace?
The well lit streets at dawn anchoring massive food stalls with variant foods and condiments, the flashing bazar with jittering crowd trying to get the best for their own, the hosting of lavish iftar parties and community collection among other traditions, experienced during the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar, has all come to a halt! The mention of these outwardly expressive traditions is deliberately aimed, since we often lose to oblivion of the spiritual and introspective aspect to these material and capitalist needs during Ramazan. Not that celebration is a crime and missing those old days is sinful, but in times as dreadful as such, it wouldn’t hurt to minimise the celebratory side and be more introspective if one has the privilege of living in a house which allows to afford space and solace to retrospect.
Ramazan asks of you to do social distancing with evils of jealousy, lies, deceit, and to have a sense of control over your instinctive desires. This lockdown shall be used to shield ourselves from the hypocrisy of duniyadari and use the time and distance to introspect the evils which lie within.
From sunrise to sunset fasting (roza) without food and water, if you still don’t feel for the empty stomachs of those who fast perennially, and not out of choice, but circumstances, then you have learned nothing from this month. It’s still easier to crib and complain from the insides of your house when others who are subject to your living room discussions die outside. Zakat or charity is one of the five pillars of Islam and now more than ever humanity is calling for it. My mother always said, “Khuda (God) looks for your neeyat (intentions).” A lot of people are reaching out to help, one such is renowned journalist and author of Gujrat Files, Rana Ayyub.
Explaining physical distancing in the time of hunger and starvation. This is the most heartbreaking task pic.twitter.com/okcu7JGeII
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) May 9, 2020
What is also quite visible is a patriarchal approach where a determinant of the end of the world is indicated when mosques are not holding collective prayers for men. Like it’s beneath their dignity to offer prayer from inside which the women have been doing majorly since ages. Khuda isn’t confined to mosques. Offer your prayers from home which itself is a privilege to have. We now live in times where basics such as food, shelter, and education is even a privilege and it’s highly insensitive to hold your manner of praying or living superior to another.
Ignorance is abundant, maybe more than the spread of virus, use this month to live upto to what it truly stands for. This Ramazan use social distancing from this ignorance instead, understand your entitlement, and reach out to those in need!
Click HERE to donate to a fundraiser organised by Karwan e Mohabbat.
Image Credits: The Economist via Hannah Barcyzk
Umaima Khanam
