Ramadhan will be very different this year

After I visited coronavirus wards this past weekend, I decided to work from home for some time as a measure to ensure the people around me are safe in case of anything.

I also decided to stay away from anything coronavirus-related news for two days to recharge my mind and body.

While this was a good idea, I could not stop thinking about just how uncertain things are.

I often wondered what the future holds and what life would be like post-coronavirus.

POSSIBLE FUTURES

There are several possible futures, all dependent on how government and society respond to the pandemic and its economic aftermath. Hopefully, we will use this crisis to rebuild and produce something better and more humane.

Immediate effects of the pandemic – postponed weddings, cancelled vacations, empty supermarket shelves, sinking housing prices, salary cuts and layoffs – suggest no one will come out of this period without losing something. This thought scares me.

NO MEETING

But what I find scariest is that Ramadhan is just days away and we cannot meet and pray together.

The thing is, when we fast, it is recommended that we participate in group prayers during the appointed prayer times. However, with social distancing and other measures in place, this could be dangerous.

Usually, families gather right before the end of fast to maintain their spiritual bond and end fast with each other. This could be a bad idea with the coronavirus lurking around.

AMERICAN FAMILY

Perhaps, to put things into perceptive, we could think of the story of a family of seven in the United States who met for dinner last month then all later tested positive for Covid-19 and four died.

It will be interesting to see just how different things will be but one thing is for certain: this will be a Ramadhan like no other.