Middle East braces for bleak Ramadan as threat of COVID-19 lingers

Riyadh: 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 socialising. 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.
More dispiriting for many devout Muslims is that congregational worship — including taraweeh night prayers — is prohibited in mosques across the region, with many closed in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
Several countries’ religious authorities, including Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, have ruled that prayers during Ramadan and Eid be performed at home.
“Our hearts are crying,” said Ali Mulla, the muezzin at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.