Soaring coronavirus infections dampen Eid celebrations in Asia
- Muslim celebration overshadowed by coronavirus, with countries tightening lockdown restrictions
- Festivities traditionally celebrated with mosque prayers, family feasts and shopping for new clothes, gifts and sweet treats.
Millions of Muslims in Indonesia were marking a muted and gloomy holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan – a usually joyous three-day celebration that has been significantly toned down as coronavirus cases soar.
The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, with more than 240 million people, has reported nearly 22,000 infections and 1,350 fatalities, the most in Southeast Asia. It means no congregational prayers at mosques and open fields, no family reunions, no relatives bearing gifts for children.
“This outbreak is not just dampening spirits of Eid, but also has made the tradition entirely different,” said Andieka Rabbani, a university student in Jakarta.
This year, like other Indonesians, he can only greet his cousins and friends through video calls.
In deeply conservative Aceh, Indonesia’s only province enforcing Islamic sharia law, public Eid prayers can still be performed at mosques and fields, but without shaking hands and with limited sermons. The iconic public parade of decorated vehicles with loudspeakers invoking God’s name was scrapped this year.
“It’s too sad … the whole week used to be one long festival, but not this time,” said Muchtar Yusuf, a resident of Aceh’s Lhokseumawe city.
Thousands of Malaysians ignore travel ban to head home for Eid celebrations
The province has reported zero coronavirus cases in the past weeks and has had only one death and 19 confirmed infections.
Unlike Aceh, mosques and fields in Jakarta, which are usually always crowded with Eid worshippers, stood empty after authorities extended the restrictions to June 4, suspended communal gatherings and banned private cars from leaving the capital.
Jakarta has become the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia with 6,515 confirmed cases with 501 deaths as of Saturday.
Eid celebrations also were low-key in neighbouring Muslim-majority Malaysia. Businesses have mostly reopened after weeks of virus shutdown, but mass gatherings are still banned and ethnic Malay Muslims are not allowed to travel back to their villages.
Police have turned away more than 5,000 cars trying to head back to their hometowns in the last few days and have warned of strict penalties against those who sneaked back.
The pandemic has also cancelled the “open house” tradition, where Muslims invite family and friends to their homes for a feast.
A different kind of Ramadan: Hong Kong Muslims observe fasting month at home
The prime minister and government officials usually host open house events that attract thousands of people. This year, the government allowed family members living nearby to visit each other on Sunday only, but the gatherings must not exceed 20 people in the same house.
Mosques have reopened but are limited to small congregations of up to 30 people.
Rohaizam Zainuddin said he was blessed he could celebrate Eid with his elderly parents living nearby but his sister in another state couldn’t return home. Usually, the house will be teeming with visiting relatives and well-wishers on the first day of Eid, but Rohaizam said he expected most of them to stay away this year.
02:09
Coronavirus: Indonesian Muslims pray together during Ramadan in Aceh mosques despite Covid-19 risk
“We feel sad and being human, we are frustrated that celebration this year is not the same,” he said. “But there is no point getting angry. We just have to accept it, life goes on.”
Everyone in the family has put on new clothes and traditional dishes, and cookies are ready for any visitors, along with a thermometer and hand sanitiser to comply with health measures, he added.
Indonesia’s melancholy Ramadan echoed in Singapore, Malaysia
Malaysia has reported 7,185 infections and 115 deaths, but officials fear the Eid festivities could spark a new wave if people ignore social distancing and health measures.
In his Eid message broadcast late Saturday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is under a two-week quarantine after being in contact with a government official diagnosed with the virus, reminded Muslims to be responsible and follow strict health guidelines.
He urged them to ensure their homes are cleaned up immediately after hosting guests, and also to refrain from visiting graves, a norm during Eid.
“To preserve life, we have to sacrifice some of our traditions or norms so as to prevent infection,” he said.
In Pakistan, Eid is being celebrated in the shadow of the coronavirus and in the wake of a passenger plane crash near Karachi on Friday that killed 97 people.
For the first time, Pakistan is celebrating Eid countrywide on the same day, ending an annual controversy between rival committees over the moon sighting that signals the start of the holiday.
Pakistan has taken measures to control the spread of the coronavirus since mid-March, but Prime Minister Imran Khan refused to close mosques during Ramadan, despite pleas from doctors and a rising number of infections. Pakistan has reported more than 52,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths.
More than 1,000 worshippers gathered and prayed shoulder-to-shoulder in a open field in Karachi on Sunday, with only a few of them wearing face-masks.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
