The Tensions Underlying Pakistan’s Ramadan Decision

Ramadan is not to be this year, at least not in its traditional form: For many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, the holy month has been adapted to a new social-distancing reality, in which evening feasts with family and friends have been traded for modest meals in isolation, and communal prayers swapped for virtual sermons over Zoom.

Not everywhere, though. In Pakistan, mosques continue to host evening prayers and clerics encourage worshippers to gather. The country’s decision to exempt Ramadan congregations from its nationwide lockdown—on the condition that worshippers follow certain rules, such as wearing face masks, keeping six feet apart, and performing pre-prayer ablutions at home—puts it at odds with most Muslim-majority nations. The Grand Mosque in Mecca and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, two of the faith’s holiest sites, which would normally be filled with worshippers this time of year, now stand virtually deserted. Even the traditional call to prayer that beckons Muslims to Hayya Ala, or “come to prayer,” has in some places been adjusted to direct them instead to , or “pray at home.”