Coronavirus forces changes to Ramadan for Mid-Michigan Muslims - ABC 12 News

GENESEE COUNTY (WJRT) (04/23/2020) - Thursday night marks the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, for many Muslims.

"It's really just the month that we're supposed to spiritually be more connected. We fast from sun up until sun down, and the idea is that you're teaching your body discipline," Muna Jondy said. Jondy is a spokesperson for the Flint Islamic Center.

Each evening is typically marked with communal gatherings for prayer and breaking fast with family and friends, known as iftar.

However, due to the coronavirus, those sacred traditions will be off the table for the time being, forcing the Muslim community in Mid-Michigan to adapt.

"Eating iftar, one of the things that we do is we invite our friends over to break fast together. Nobody's going to be doing that, and now it's literally just nuclear families. I just don't know how long it's going to be before we're like, 'Wow! This really does stink,'" Jondy said.

Jondy says programming will start happening online, including daily recitation of the Quran on Zoom, Friday sermons live on YouTube, and daily spiritual reflection online.

Despite the changes, Jondy says slowing down and not bouncing around from place to place might not be such a bad thing after all.

"I'm going to be able to have time to read meaningful things a little bit more, do my prayers and not have to rush them really quickly, so I know that for me, I feel like it's going to be a better spiritual connection than I think it was in previous years," Jondy said.

Although some cherished traditions are stalled this year, Jondy says she plans on upholding this family tradition to celebrate the start of Ramadan.

"Everybody asks me to make my chicken tortilla soup, so I decided this year that obviously since I won't be able to host, I didn't want to totally break with tradition, so I'm going to be making the soup, and I'm going to be doing just deliveries to the door for each of my family members," Jondy said.

Jondy says this is also a season of giving, and she hopes to use this as an opportunity for herself and others to do charitable work like grocery deliveries in the community.

For more information, visit the Flint Islamic Center website. That information is posted in the "Related Links" tab on this page.