Ramadan in the Second Year of the Pandemic

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

Muslims perform the first tarawih prayer of Ramadan 1442 Hijriyah at the Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta, Monday (12/4/2021). Tarawih prayers are held according to strict health protocols.

Fasting for Ramadan 1442 Hijriah, which we started on Tuesday (13/4/2021), will take place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. God willing, this will not be a barrier.

In the pre-pandemic era, we enlivened Ramadan with many iftar (breaking of the fast meal) events, which were of course made with good intentions: to strengthen friendships. Tarawih (Ramadan evening prayer) was performed together, also for togetherness. All of this culminated in the celebration of Idul Fitri, which was accompanied by the phenomenal homecoming tradition.

Also read: Fasting, Reaching Piety and Blessings

This year, even though there appears to be an increasing trend in COVID-19 cases, we are reminded not to be careless. The government also issued a ban on travelling home on May 6-17,  with preparations for tight interception and obstruction, while prohibiting the operation of land, sea and air transportation at the peak of the holidays, except for those with special permits.

We accept all these restrictive policies with full citizenship awareness. All of this is intended to prevent transmission from increasing again, the economic consequences of which can get deeper, as marked by an increase in the number of poor people, jobs losses, difficulty in life and difficulty in managing our health.

Also read: Fasting During the Outbreak

Let us focus on worshiping, purifying ourselves, getting closer to Allah SWT and hoping for contentment and forgiveness. We can increase the devotion of worship with tadarus (Quran reading), studying the contents of the holy Quran, itikaf (staying in a mosque, getting closer to Allah and temporarily staying away from world affairs), by adhering to health protocols.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Hilal\'s observation as the determination of the start of Ramadan which was held by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) together with the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion of West Nusa Tenggara Province on Loang Baloq Beach, Mataram City, Monday (12/4/2021) afternoon.

At the same time, we also hope that Ramadan will be a month that besides being magfirah (full of forgiveness), will also be a blessing. As explained by Prof. Azyumardi Azra in this daily on Monday (12/4/2021), with blessings, life becomes more meaningful. Blessings are a form of kindness that is always increasing.

"People whose lives are blessed always give virtue to society, humanity and the environment," wrote Azyumardi.

Also read: Fasting and Social Observance

Without blessings, life becomes dry, meaningless and empty of essential virtues that are beneficial to oneself, mankind, the nation-state, humanity and the wider ecosystem. We realize that blessings do not come by themselves and are once-finished. That is why the holy month of Ramadan comes every year because every effort to get blessings needs to be refreshed, perfected. In addition to providing benefits, modern life also opens up opportunities for mistakes.

Without blessings, life becomes dry, meaningless and empty of essential virtues that are beneficial to oneself, mankind, the nation-state, humanity and the wider ecosystem.

We also want to emphasize one thing: the pandemic, which has been going on for more than one year, has significantly eroded the economic capacity of many of our fellow countrymen. We are convinced that our Ramadan fasting will increasingly get blessings when we accompany our fasting with our family, relatives and friends, whose lives have become difficult because of the pandemic. We highlight this because basically, Ramadan is also a month of giving.

Let us continue to increase our faith, habluminallah (piety) and hablumminanas (good relations with others). Congratulations on fasting for Ramadan, may Allah SWT accept our worship.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.