“If I feel like I’m getting light-headed, I’m going to have to break (my fast).” A respiratory therapist juggles her faith with a job on the frontline of the coronavirus battle. AP follows several American Muslims navigating an unprecedented Ramadan.
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As they re-imagine some of the spiritual and social rituals, many are relying on a mix of at-home worship and a myriad of online religious programming. Virtual iftar options have sprung up so the devout don’t have to break their fast alone. But not all moments can be recreated on a screen. There will be dishes not shared, prayers not lifted together, hugs not given.But she looks for the blessings. She lives in a close-knit community in South Atlanta with dozens of other Muslim families.
“It’s going to be really difficult,” he said before Ramadan started. “I do have a lot of questions, and there’s a lot I want to observe and ask about.” His mom was upset when he told her he was considering Islam. “A lot of people seem to have that same conversation with their parents,” he says. Eventually, she came around. While on work trips to Saudi Arabia, she got him a prayer mat, a copy of the Quran, prayer beads and some dates. He has been saving the dates for breaking his fast during Ramadan.
“I was upset and confused, and I didn’t know if I was physically or mentally strong enough to be a frontliner,” she says. At times, she says, her faith wavered. “I’m going to take it in stages and try to fast while I’m at work,” she says. “But if I feel like I’m getting light-headed, I’m going to have to break it.”The An-Noor Cultural Center and masjid is located blocks from Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, where patients have been dying from COVID-19 at an alarming rate.
On this day, volunteers, including the imam’s son, help him sort food in the prayer area. When the time for afternoon prayer arrives, the men break and pray amid half-assembled food boxes filled with dates, cooking oil, vermicelli and potatoes, standing with a little extra room between them. Mohamed walked around the neighborhood as the azan blared out from the mosque and into the streets and buildings surrounding it. Hearing that, he says, took him back to when he was in Somalia.
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