How US Muslim Youth Perform Ramadan During Pandemic

Washington, MINA – Two US Muslim youth share stories about how they perform Ramadan during Covid-19 pandemic.

The two youth put it forward in a discussion held virtually on Friday by the US Embassy in Jakarta. The also discussed the culture and habits of Ramadan in the United States.

Muhammad Muhanna, a Muslim youth from Dallas, Texas, said that his activities before and during the Covid-19 pandemic were slightly different because his country currently imposes strict social restrictions.

“Years ago when there was no coronavirus, during Ramadan I often went to the mosque to pray taraweeh, Break the fast together and various activities there, but now the mosque in my city is closed,” said the youth who had participated in the National Security Language Initiative exchange program for Youth (NSLI-Y) in Jakarta in 2019.

Muhanna joined the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) exchange program and studied Indonesian at Malang State University. He is currently studying at the University of Texas majoring in Biology.

He said conducting fasting in the US is full of challenges, one of which is fasting time which ranges from 15-16 hours. But with this social restriction, even fasting for Muhammad became lighter because there was not too much activity outside.

Almost similar to Muhammad, Yuhaniz Aly, a youth Muslim from Seattle, Washington, spent much of his activities at home, starting from online classes, as well as cooking for Iftar and dinner.

“Ramadhan is very easy because previously I was active outside of school or school, but most of them are now active at home. Our family often cooks various types of food, “said the Muslim who had also participated in the exchange program.

Yuhaniz lives together in a host family in Jakarta during the exchange program in 2018. Currently, Yuhaniz is studying at the University of Washington majoring in Public Health.

During this Ramadan, Yuhaniz also often participates in Muslim community activities online. (L / RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)