TEHRAN – From cancelled “iftar” feasts to suspended mosque prayers, Muslims across the Middle East are bracing for a bleak month of Ramadan fasting as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers.
Ramadan is a period for both self-reflection and socializing. Believers fast from dawn to dusk and then gather around a family or community meal each evening of Islam’s holiest month, which begins later this week and ends with Eid al-Fitr festivities.
But this year, the fast-spreading novel coronavirus threatens to dampen Ramadan like never before, with millions locked down across the Middle East – from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon to the battle zones of Libya, Iraq and Yemen. (AFP)
