As Ramadan begins on the evening of April 23, Muslims are forced to reinvent this holy month because of the confinement.
–
From April 23 to May 23, Muslims in France and around the world will experience a somewhat special Ramadan. Indeed, confinement requires, traditional collective prayers and banquets between neighbors or extended family will be prohibited. A constraint which concerns in particular the 700,000 Muslims in Seine-Saint-Denis, reports The Parisian. “Muslims already know this: the party will be sad! “, explains M’mmed Henniche, co-manager of the Union of Muslim Associations in the department (UAM 93).
“The collective aspect is an important fact”
“In normal times, Ramadan is done every day in two stages: fasting during the day, then a break-breaking meal – Iftar – at night, which takes place with the extended family, neighbors, friends . And in the evening, there are collective prayers, called Tarawih, in all the mosques ”, details the manager. Gold, “Since the dawn of time, these moments have been together”, he laments. “We sometimes dine with thirty or forty people, before going to pray in places of worship which can bring together 3,000 people for the older ones in Seine-Saint-Denis. Religiously, the collective aspect is an important fact “, he argues. The practice of fasting, for its part, “Will not cause any concern with containment since it is individual and intimate”.
Muslims “Aware that it is the health issue that prevails”
But Yacine Laoudi, head of the Acma, an association that manages the great mosque of Aulnay-sous-Bois, assures him: “People are absolutely aware that it is the health issue that prevails”even if this truncated Ramadan “Questions and worries all Muslims, in search of spirituality at this time”. Police side, while we could fear overflows in this period, the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis does not plan to set up any particular device. She explains besides “No particular problems noted since the beginning of the confinement around mosques or other religious places, nor street prayers”.
– .
