Ramadan in lockdown
from Christian Concern:
Tim Dieppe comments on how the media has addressed the Muslim festival of Ramadan during lockdown.
Ramadan started on Thursday 23 April this year and will continue to Saturday 23 May. Fasting in Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. During this period, devout Muslims are expected to fast from all eating and drinking during daylight hours. Muslims engaging in this fast will get up to eat and drink before dawn – the Suhoor – and will then share an evening meal – the Iftar – at sunset.
The Iftar is usually a social occasion shared with friends and family. This social aspect of Ramadan is one reason why more food is consumed by Muslims during Ramadan than at other times of the year. Lockdown is hindering the social aspect of Ramadan this year. The Muslim Council of Britain has put out a guide “Ramadan at Home” encouraging Muslims to follow government guidance on social distancing and to have Itfars at home or virtually.
BBC broadcasts Muslim reflections
The BBC announced that fourteen BBC local radio stations will broadcast Muslim prayers at 5:50am every Friday in the run up to Ramadan. This would have been a first for the BBC. The programme is called Islamic Reflections and involves an Islamic speaker sharing some reflections on the coronavirus crisis. In spite of how it was announced and discussed in the media, these programmes do not appear to involve any actual prayer. The Islamic call to prayer – or adhan – clearly proclaims that ‘Allah is greater’, and that ‘there is no God but Allah’. As the book Not the Same God makes clear, Allah is not the God of the Bible.
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