Today is the first day of Ramadan, a period when Muslim families visit each other to break the fast with iftar after sunset. Due to the corona measures and the curfew, Ramadan is going differently than normal. Numerous initiatives respond to the limitations.
In the Tevhit Mosque in Venlo, the Quran is normally read from start to finish in the mosque during the fasting period, a number of pages per day. Now that happens online, says Hakan Tasdemir, secretary of the mosque’s board. “In this way we try to create that atmosphere of Ramadan, of being together. But just in a different way.”
The mosque also tries to create an atmosphere of being together at the iftar. “Normally we often eat together in the mosque. People then give a donation in the form of money or food to pay for those meals.” This year, members of the mosque are cooking a hot meal for the food bank in Venlo. Everyone, including non-Muslims, can pick up a meal there, says Tasdemir.
“And people who have to eat alone at home during iftar, you make it feel like someone is eating with them, because we all eat the same thing on that day.” Tasdemir hopes that the feeling of being together can still be created in this way.
At this mosque in Amsterdam, Mohammed prepares meal packages, especially for Ramadan:
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