The year 2020 will\nperhaps be remembered as the year that changed everything. More than half of\nthe global population are experiencing a lockdown in one form or another due to\nCOVID-19. Even after the easing of the lockdowns, a \u201cnew normal\u201d will emerge\nthat will see people practicing social distancing, avoiding crowds, and looking\nafter personal hygiene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The holy month of Ramadan\nis now upon us. For Muslims, what would this so-called \u201cnew normal\u201d mean when\ncelebrating the month of Ramadan? Many Muslims would regard the rituals in the\nmonth of Ramadan as a form of madrasah <\/em>or\nschool to learn, unlearn and relearn certain habits. Good habits which may be\nnew to some can be learned during Ramadan, old bad habits can be unlearned,\nwhile other habits which are good but seldom done can be relearned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic\nhas presented Muslims with this golden opportunity to learn, unlearn and\nrelearn a number of things which may have been taken for granted all this\nwhile. We have been going through the month of Ramadan all throughout our lives\nwith more or less the same \u201csyllabus.\u201d Now with COVID-19, we are presented a\nnew syllabus for the holy month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some core practices\nremain the same in Ramadan, one of which is fasting. The act of fasting is\nsynonymous with the month of Ramadan. As such, in spite of the pandemic, all\nMuslims will continue to fast, much like previous years. This is because\nfasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the pillars of Islam which must be\nperformed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another act of worship\nsynonymous with the holy month is the act of performing the optional Tarawih <\/em>prayer after the compulsory Isyak <\/em>prayer. All this while, we are\nused to performing Tarawih <\/em>in a jamaah <\/em>(congregation) at a masjid <\/em>or surau<\/em>. Now however, we have no choice but to adjust accordingly. Tarawih <\/em>can still be done in a\ncongregation, but it should only be performed at our homes with our family\nmembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an opportunity\nfor the head of the family to learn to be the imam <\/em>of the prayer. While Tarawih\n<\/em>is akin to many optional prayers in Islam, it is still something that needs\nfamiliarization for many. Hence, the head of the household should step up to\ntake the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, for those who\nare living on their own, Tarawih <\/em>can\nstill be performed individually. While in the past, we may be accustomed to\njust becoming the ma\u2019mum <\/em>(follower)\nin a prayer performed in a jamaah<\/em>,\nbut in light of COVID-19, we need to be able to perform this prayer on our own.\nAgain, this will be a learning process for many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another aspect of the\nmonth of Ramadan, although not directly related to religious rituals, is the\nRamadan bazaar. In the past, Ramadan bazaars have become a source of income for\nmany people. It is also a food haven for those looking for iftar <\/em>(breaking of fast) dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality for this year\nhowever dictates that there will not be any Ramadan bazaar in the physical\nsense. As such, we have to unlearn the habit of frequenting Ramadan bazaars and\nrelearn a new skill that is, either buying dishes for iftar <\/em>online and have them delivered to our homes, or simply cook\nthe dishes ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Either way, what is\nequally important is for us to learn to avoid food wastage during Ramadan. Buy\nor cook only what is needed for consumption. Any form of wastage, what more\nfood wastage, is much abhorred in Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramadan is also known as\nthe month of the Quran. In previous years, people would carry out tadarus <\/em>(act of reciting the Quran\ntogether) with other members of the congregation usually at a masjid <\/em>or surau<\/em>. With the pandemic, does it mean that we cannot perform the tadarus<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most definitely, tadarus <\/em>can continue. As with the Tarawih <\/em>prayer, we can continue to perform\ntadarus <\/em>of the Quran with our family\nmembers, and for many, this will be a new skill that needs to be learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of this,\ntechnology can also be a useful aid for online tadarus<\/em>. This is something that can be learned if we want to carry\nout online tadarus <\/em>with members of\nour congregation by using softwares and apps normally used for online meetings.\nThe difference being, instead of congregating in a masjid <\/em>or surau <\/em>for tadarus<\/em>, we are congregating online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people look forward\nto Ramadan because it presents them with the opportunity to carry out acts of\nworship during the last part of the night, known as qiam al-layl<\/em>. Some would take the opportunity to perform the qiam al-layl <\/em>at a masjid<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this is no\nlonger possible due to COVID-19, but it does not mean that the act of qiam al-layl <\/em>could no longer be\nperformed. We can adjust accordingly by performing qiam al-layl <\/em>at home with our family members. Again, this\nadjustment requires some sort of learning and relearning process on the part of\nthe doer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charity is also equally\nsynonymous with Ramadan. The pandemic should not be looked as an excuse to stop\ndoing charity. Instead, the pandemic has presented us with more opportunities\nto help others in need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We can always contribute\nto Ramadan baskets which are used to help the needy as well as the frontliners.\nWe can channel funds to NGO\u2019s performing charitable deeds during Ramadan. Or at\nthe very least, we can share our iftar<\/em>\ndishes with our neighbours during this holy month. Charity does not stop with\nCOVID-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither can COVID-19\ntruly affect Ramadan. What is needed is just adjustments on the part of\nbelievers. As mentioned, Ramadan is a madrasah\n<\/em>where we can become better Muslims at the end of the holy month. The\nadjustments that we make in Ramadan is a learning process that can increase our\npiety to Allah.\n\nIn truth, the spirit of the holy month is not\ndiminished under the pressure of the pandemic. On the contrary, the pandemic\nhas actually presented Muslims with a greater opportunity to further showcase\nthe true beauty of the spirit of Ramadan, and to come out\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The year 2020 will perhaps be remembered as the year that changed everything. More than half of the global population are experiencing a lockdown in one form or another due to COVID-19. Even after the easing of the lockdowns, a \u201cnew normal\u201d will emerge that will see people practicing social distancing, avoiding crowds, and looking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}