By: Ahmad Baiquni) *
The Covid-19 pandemic has not prevented us from continuing to fast in Ramadan. However, there are some adjustments in other worship practices. For example, tarawih prayers and breaking the fast together. It is better if you pray at home and break fast together with your nuclear family in your own house.
In the month of Ramadan, the quantity and quality of worship is improved. We get crowded with obligatory prayers and sunnah, charity and pay zakat, as well as other acts of worship. The liveliness of Ramadan increases when everyone seems to be competing to deliver takjil to neighbors and relatives.
The Covid-19 pandemic that is still sweeping the world makes the atmosphere of Ramadan somewhat different. Indeed, we are still fasting as usual, but there are some changes in worship, and must be adjusted to health protocols. The goal is that we can still get close to Him without fear of the risk of corona transmission.
The first adjustment is the congregational tarawih prayer in the mosque. It is better if this prayer is done at home, because the congregation in the mosque can cause a crowd and there is the potential to transmit the corona. Even though many have worn masks, we cannot guarantee who took them off in the mosque. When it turns out that he is OTG, there will be infection and don’t let wassalam alias end up at the funeral.
The government is not prohibiting Muslims from praying, but this appeal is to protect them from the danger of corona transmission. Because it’s better to prevent than cure, right? Moreover, tarawih prayers performed at home with the nuclear family are also valid and rewarding. Don’t push yourself because protecting the body from corona is much more important.
Apart from the appeal to pray tarawih at home, another worship that has adjustments is breaking the fast. It is common to do iftar with colleagues, extended family, as well as breaking the fast as well as reunions with school / college friends. But don’t let breaking the fast end in disaster because it creates new clusters.
Indeed, the recent corona patient curve has a bit sloping, but we still have to be vigilant, one of which is by refraining from having iftar together. When eating together at maghrib time, everyone automatically opens their masks to enter food and drinks. That’s when the corona can lurk, because the droplets will spread from one or many participants who break the fast together who become OTG.
If there is only 1 person who becomes an OTG, then all visitors to the restaurant that is a joint luncheon can contract the corona. The victims can be consumers of the restaurant, as well as the employees. Do you want to eat and break fast together for 2 hours but languish for 14 days while in isolation at the hospital? The answer is of course no, right?
Apart from breaking the fast together and praying tarawih at the mosque, another adjustment is during sahur. If in the past we could have suhoor while donating rice boxes around to the poor, aka sahur on the street, now don’t do it. Not being stingy, but the mobility of many people will make corona transmission even more violent, even if only movement within the city.
If you want to donate, it can be replaced by donating to trusted orphanages or amil zakat and alms institutions. There are still many ways to increase your reward without having to risk getting corona. Just be patient and wait for the pandemic to end, then hold a sahur tour like before.
Adjustments to several worship services during Ramadan, such as tarawih prayers at the mosque, sahur on the street, and breaking the fast together, are mandatory. It is better for sahur, breaking the fast, and praying tarawih at home. Stay rewarded and adhere to health protocols so that you are free from transmission of corona.
) * The author is a contributor to the Pertiwi Institute