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Today, Muslims in Australia begin observing Ramadan, the fasting month, in a very different way due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite the social restrictions, many believe the essence of the Holy Month remains the same.
Key point
- The fasting month is one of the most significant periods for Muslims, and is usually spent together
- Ramadan in Australia started on Thursday night, following the sight of the new moon
- Ramadan in isolation is considered by many Muslims as an opportunity to reconnect
For the next 30 days, Muslims in Australia will be abstaining from food and drinks during the daylight and have anticipated "a sad and quiet" Ramadan.
Mosques are deserted, homes are now expected to be spiritual centres, with Islamic sermons delivered through video callings.
It may have sounded impossible to think about Ramadan without social interactions, but many Muslims in Australia have found ways to keep the spirit of togetherness during the Holy Month alive.
Fasting alone in a regional town
Photo:
Yacoob Phillips will miss going to the mosque to pray during the month of Ramadan. (Supplied)
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Muslims make up 2.6 per cent of the Australian population.
That means there are approximately 600,000 Muslims in Australia and the majority live in big cities.
Muslim communities in regional areas are much smaller than their metropolitan counterparts, which is why a strong sense of community is important to them.
Originally from Brisbane, Yacoob Phillips is a high school music teacher living in a town an hour from Townsville in North Queensland.
"For me, moving to North Queensland was the biggest challenge in my faith journey as I'd only converted a year before I accepted the job up north," he said.
During the month of Ramadan, he would usually travel to Townsville — the nearest mosque — to attend taraweeh prayers, a special evening prayer Muslims would usually do in congregation.
It is also an opportunity for Muslims to meet each other, asking for tips on fasting and feeling a sense of togetherness.
With mosques closed, this is one of the challenges for Mr Phillips on this year's Ramadan.
"I try to attend taraweeh prayers at the masjid [mosque] in Townsville about every second night, and for me that is one of the biggest things I will miss this year due to social isolation and COVID-19."
"My housemate is a practising Catholic, which means I'm up early eating suhoor [the pre-fasting meal] alone and then eating iftar [breaking the fast] often alone as well," Mr Phillips said.
Many mosques around Australia and the rest of the world are offering online Islamic classes, so Mr Phillips can join wherever he is.
"Now that it's shifted online it's actually positive. It means other people from around Australia and around the world can connect," he said.
Students thousands of miles from home
During Ramadan, many Islamic student associations at universities offer meals for breaking the fast followed by praying together.
These events help Muslim international students in Australia to not feel alone during Ramadan.
However, with the current restrictions on large gatherings in Australia, these gatherings will not proceed this year.
Inessa Arif came to Brisbane from Kerala, India, as an undergraduate student and is now doing a masters in biotechnology at the University of Queensland.
As her mother and sister live in India and her father works in Dubai, the only family connection she has are her aunt and uncle in Brisbane.
She would visit them every week, but with the current restrictions, those visits have lessened.
As the only Muslim in her household and with her classes now online, she will be fasting and celebrating at home alone.
"I'm planning to make dishes that my mother would make at home during Ramadan," she said, adding she would call her parents every evening.
She is also close to her housemate and they usually hang out together after dinner, helping maintain a sense of normalcy during the uncertainty.
Celebrating the first Ramadan
For Zahra Fielding, who just converted to Islam last February, this year will be her first year celebrating Ramadan.
She said she found Islam in an online game with a chat feature, where players from all over the world were able to communicate with each other.
Through that platform, she had gotten close to a girl who was a Malaysian Muslim and took the opportunity to ask her about the religion and her headscarf.
"I always thought that the headscarf was a sign of oppression," she said.
As she connected with more Muslims through the game and within Australia, she learned more about the religion and fell in love with it.
Ms Fielding is not too disappointed about spending her first Ramadan in isolation with her cat.
"I purchased a Ramadan diary to keep track of my fasting and my deeds," she told the ABC.
Zahra is also planning to break her fast with her Muslim friends to help feel a sense of belonging.
Stranded in Australia for Ramadan
Newlyweds Syazween Zainal and Jeff Davidson arrived in Australia in February for their honeymoon.
Initially, they had plans to travel to Europe but with the current restrictions, both in Europe and Australia, they are now stuck at Sydney's Bondi Beach for the next few months.
Having lived close to her family in Malaysia her whole life, this will be Ms Zainal's first Ramadan away from them.
"Being away like this is definitely a massive change for me. Not a bad change, but massive nonetheless."
For Mr Davidson, who grew up in America, this will be his first time fasting.
While Ms Zainal does not consider herself religious, fasting is important to her and she is grateful to be sharing the experience with her new husband.
They will Skype her family each evening, though may not be able to break their fast at the same time due to the time difference.
"On top of a Ramadan apart we're also looking at the very real possibility that this will be our first Eid apart too," she said.
"We just have to make the best of the current circumstances, I guess."
Families turning homes into 'mosques'
Iman Shahrain grew up in Malaysia and moved to Australia seven years ago with her five children for her husband's work.
She was a principal at an Islamic pre-school and is now a homemaker.
Their house in Brisbane is close to a mosque, which made celebrating Ramadan even more significant.
"Ramadan for us in the last seven years have always been tied to the mosque," she said.
Her family would often break their fast with other Muslim families.
Ms Shahrain also spends her free time volunteering and has worked with charity organisations that host Iftar for Muslim converts who will spend it alone.
Now that gatherings have been restricted, those events will not take place.
That does not mean she has no plans to make it special.
She will be starting by decorating her house to welcome the month of Ramadan.
"We also plan to follow the various channels/shows online by local mosques, aiming to keep the sense of community together."
Her family has also been praying in congregation at home and they plan to follow the content posted by local mosques.
"This year it is going to be more meaningful since this [our house] is also going to be our mosque," she said.
Ramadan in isolation is 'a blessing'
Zeinab Mourad, based in Melbourne, said celebrating Ramadan with her extended family members was what she will miss most this year.
For Eid celebration, marking the end of Ramadan, her family usually hires a function hall. Not so this year.
However, Ms Mourad said physical distancing did not discount the spirit of togetherness during the most significant period for Muslims.
"We can still share the memories over video conversations," she told ABC News.
Ms Mourad saw the COVID-19 pandemic and its social restrictions as a special opportunity to be more spiritually aware, without "any distractions".
"It's such a blessing, because we can achieve so much and there's no excuses not to," she said.
"[Usually] we get so distracted in Ramadan in cooking and inviting people over and going to events [or] getting invited."
While the pandemic may get in the way of celebrations, it does not mean that it will be less meaningful.
'A time out'
A group of Australian Muslims in Sydney has hosted an online event "Ramadan Re-Imagined" to welcome Ramadan, featuring well-known Islamic scholars in the Muslim community.
One of them was Belal Assaad, an imam and Islamic scholar based in Melbourne, who said social isolation in Islamic and spiritual perspectives should be regarded as an opportunity to take "time out".
He believes it is actually a time to "reflect ourselves individually" and to learn patience and sincerity in the true meaning.
"We just have to worry about our hearts and our reflections," Mr Assaad said.
He reminded Muslims not to worry about missing out going to mosques and social gathering this Ramadan.
Mr Belal said worshipping took more than one form and the most important thing for Muslims was character and service to others, including to non-Muslims.
The inability to host social gatherings during Ramadan, such as sharing meals after the sunset is a probably a good thing, according to Mr Assad.
"Maybe God wants to teach us not to be wasteful of food and oriented only around entertainment."
Instead, he suggested Muslims share food with their neighbours.
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Topics: religion-and-beliefs, islam, multiculturalism, australia, qld, brisbane-4000, townsville-4810, melbourne-3000