Muslims worldwide observed the first day of the holy month of Ramadan amid lockdown measures
Yasmeen Manzoor
Srinagar :Holy Islamic month of Ramdan begun today with closed mosques denying gatherings for prayers, including special prayer taraweeh due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to combat the Covid 19 pandemic.
With the beginning of Ramzan, almost all Muslim majority countries closed mosques and people prayed at home in order to counter Coronavirus which has claimed 2.73m lives and 192K deaths globally till date.
Practising muslims, abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk during Ramadan and gather with family to break the fast in the evening, certainly a month of prayers during which followers customarily assemble in huge numbers in mosques, especially during night,
Unfortunately this year muslims were incarcerated in their respective houses amid the coronavirus outbreak and in addition Nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of deadly virus that has paralysed the entire world.
Kashmir has seen a series of lockdowns throughout it’s entire history but no one would stop people from offering Taraweeh and other congregational prayers in masjids but this time, the lockdown is different where the people are restrained at their own places willingly, while people followed the advisory of Ulemmas and offered Taraweeh prayers in their homes.
While talking to Kashmir News Bureau one the local said, “The holy month of Ramadhan begun today and apart from fasting, markets buzzed even before the commencement of the Ramzan, people would throng markets for shopping and buying other related stuff but unfortunately for the very first time in living memory, muslims in kashmir and all over the world observed the pious month of Ramzan without offering congregational prayers in masjids and remained confined to their homes due to nationwide Lockdown.
Another local while talking to Kashmir News Bureau said, ” It is very painfull that the holy month of Ramadhan arrives amid circumstances that make us unable to perform group prayers and Taraweeh at mosques due to precautionary measures , nationwide Lockdown imposed in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic,”
Meanwhile, with 42 fresh positive cases in last 24 hours including 23 from Anantnag, 5 from Srinagar, 7 from Bandipora, 3 each from Baramulla and Shopian, 1 from Kupwara,taking the total number of cases to 496, in Jammu and Kashmir, 6 of them have died including a 72-year old man from Tangmarg today.(KNB)
