Social Isolation: Check On A Muslim (We're NOT Doing Okay!)

Shehla: Hi, everyone, may peace be on you all. My name is Shehla and welcome to another episode of my podcast. I'm A Muslim (And That's Okay!). So, how is everybody doing on day number 10,563 of the lockdown? [laughs]. I know I shouldn’t be making jokes especially at the expense of all the extroverts out there, I'm sorry. 

And here is the thing, I see so many people, especially, when you go online on Facebook, they're so distressed by all of this. All of my extrovert friends are not doing okay and my sympathies with you guys. But us introverts, we're doing fine, it's how we're programmed. We don't mind not going out. We don't mind not meeting people. If you really ask most of us, we're complaining that there's literally too many people in the house. And why are the kids permanently here? Why are our spouses permanently here? Everybody needs to go away, leave me alone [laughs], let me read a book [laughs], but I get it, it's a different personality type thing. And there're lots of people in my family that they're so used to socializing, they're not doing well with just being cooped up indoors and I get it. 

But the interesting thing is and I notice that when we are forced indoors, we want to go outdoors. Before people were obsessed with being on their gadgets and being online and just being preoccupied by the internet, but now where they have all this opportunity to be preoccupied by the internet, they're not, there're so many people outside. I go biking every day and the trails that used to be empty before, they're packed with people now. I got to share these trails, it's awful [laughs]. No, but it really is interesting, because it's not just the extroverts that are having a hard time. 

When I look into the Muslim community, the Muslim community, especially, I'm connected to the Dallas Muslim community, they're having a hard time, especially the Pakistani community. If there're two things that Pakistani people love, it's food and socializing. And at this moment, we can't do either and we're not doing okay. And I don't know how many people who are listening have WhatsApp, but if you're from Asia, WhatsApp is our chat app. That's how people from-- If you have relatives in Asia or anywhere in the world, that's how Asian people connect, completely in about ten bajillion WhatsApp groups that are created for every friend connection you have or every family connection you have. So anyway, so I'm in about maybe 100 of those WhatsApp groups and some of them are from Dallas. And it’s interesting to see that we're sitting here in social isolation and these Pakistani people are still trying to figure out someway in which they can connect and have a party [laughs]. It's ridiculous, you're like "No, no, no, no, we are not supposed to be doing this right now," but anyway yeah, we are having a hard time. 

And it's not just because of the fact that Muslims and Pakistanis like to socialize. We're fast approaching the month of Ramadan. And for those who don't know, Muslims also have a calendar that goes based on the lunar calendar. And for us, Ramadan will begin somewhere close to the end of April. And most people only know Ramadan as being the time when Muslims fast and that's true. I mean, we fast from dawn until dusk for 30 days of the month. But it's not just that. It's a time, especially when you're in the US and not even in the US. I remember when I was in Pakistan, Ramadan was looked forward to for the entire year. Even though, fasting isn't easy, especially, the Muslim fast is not easy because we don't eat or drink at all. And I know a lot of people, those who aren't Muslims when they hear that, they find that very distressing and I get it when you're not used to it, you can't wrap your head around it, but for us, we've been doing it for most of our lives. So, we get used to the schedule how it is in Ramadan, and let me tell you the Ramadan schedule isn't like the everyday schedule. We do slow down. Admittedly, we're not performing at 100%, but we do get used to how to go about our day-to-day activities during Ramadan with some modification.

Anyway, but Ramadan, even when I was in Pakistan, it used to be the time of the year where everybody would dedicate to prayer, but also to coming together as families because especially the time when we break the fast in the evenings, it's a really festive time, it's a joyous time. And especially over the weekends you'd have family come over and you break bread, break your fast together and it's always a wonderful experience. 

And when we moved to the US, we used to seek out the places where other Muslims would congregate, and most of the times that would be the local mosque or masjid, and we've been doing that ever since for the past 12 years. 

But for this time, for the first time in a long time, and if you asked anybody, it doesn't matter what age group they're in, they cannot remember a time when we could not come together as a Muslim community to be able to celebrate Ramadan and do our prayers in Ramadan. And I know that a lot of Muslims are finding this very distressing. It's just unheard of, we cannot imagine our Ramadans without being able to do this. Because in Ramadan, even when we're in the US, it is almost a daily ritual during Ramadan for Muslims to go to the masjid, to break fast with other Muslims, and it's a wonderful atmosphere to see everybody help lay out the food, serve food with one another, laugh together, it's a wonderful atmosphere. 

But now, because of how things are, we cannot congregate, and we should not congregate, that is how it is. And it's not just not being able to meet at masjids. We can't even meet relatives who may be close by, friends who are close by in the same city. And it makes for a very lonely experience in Ramadan. 

And some people might argue that Ramadan is not just about coming together, socializing, that sort of thing. It's also about connecting to God and being-- Deepening our faith, and I completely agree with that. In Ramadan, we also have congregational prayers that happen almost nightly and that is also something that has come to a screeching halt because of the quarantine. 

And again, our community is really struggling with trying to figure out how to make a month that is very special to us still be special in a time when we cannot practice how we usually do, and it's not just us. And I really felt for the Christian community as well, because again, Easter is also around the corner, another very significant religious celebration, but it cannot be done as they do it usually and I see that it is difficult. It's very, very difficult to be able to try to be spiritual when things are so out of the ordinary, I guess that would be the best way to describe it, I know that's an awful way to describe it, but it is true. 

And here's the thing, the problem with how things are right now, we don't even know if things will go back to normal, and that's the hardest part about this, because we don't know if we can get a handle on the coronavirus, Covid-19 whichever way you want to refer it to, because we don't even fully understand it. Would we be able to come out of social isolation? How long we can go on doing this? And again, we were not prepared for this in any way mentally. 

And in religious communities, especially-- Not just the Muslim community, this is one of those things that we have not been prepared for like ever. You cannot go back any number of generations that can remember something like this happening when we could not perform religious duties as they had been laid down to us.

If one of the examples if I had to give you was that, this year, one of the biggest things that are distressing a lot of Muslims is that we probably will not be able to have the yearly Hajj, and that is one of the pillars of faith for most Muslims, that it has to be performed at least once in a lifetime, but Saudi Arabia has made the announcement that it would better if Muslims did not and that is very distressing for many Muslims. 

And for those who are not religiously inclined, it might not seem significant, but I would, I guess-- think of it in a way that there is at least something in everybody's life, or everybody's everyday day-to-day life that they hold very dear. It doesn't matter if you are religious or not religious, spiritual, not spiritual, there is that one thing that brings everybody comfort, joy, solace. And to not be able to do that, I think it is very trying, it is a great test, and that is what I think what all of this is, and not just for Muslims or those who are religious. Like I mentioned before, for people who are extroverts it is a test to not be able to go out, meet people. 

And for introverts, I guess the test is that we are surrounded by too many people. But that's the thing, for all of us, it really is a time for us to evaluate how we will handle ourselves when we're thrown into a situation that we are not used to, and quite frankly are not prepared to even wrap our heads around. So, I hope we can be calm, rational about this, and be able to logically go through this and get through this in a way that we come out with A, being better people and B, hopefully there is a solution to all of this, because I don't think anything can be done if we stay indoors all the time. We do need a cure for Covid-19 because I think-- The thing I feel most distressed about is all those people who are in the healthcare industry who are right now putting themselves at risk for something that they don't even know how long it will last. And I don't know, I do find it very distressing that this is an invisible enemy, I guess you can call it that does not discriminate, and yet there are the people who are fighting that enemy for us, trying to save us with all their might, and they don't have the artillery. I guess I hate to use that term, but it is what it is, to really be able to effectively fight it. I pray to God that we are able to help them out the best way we can. 

And right now, for the rest of us, religious community or not, to do that is just to stay at home. We need to stop the spread so we can return, so that we can have the luxury to return to our everyday lives. For those who are treating patients who have contracted Covid-19 and those who have contracted Covid-19 their lives are permanently changed. And for us who don't have it, yes, we do have these everyday inconveniences of not being able to do the things that we really, really, really want to do, but at least we're okay. So, I hope all of us do our part in beating this. And with that, I hope that all of you stay safe and well, and may peace be on you all. Take care. 

Thank you so much for tuning in to I'm A Muslim (And That's Okay!). And if you wish to follow my social media for more updates, you can follow me on Instagram, on Facebook, and on YouTube. All the links to those are in the show notes. And if you are on Apple, or on Spotify, or on Podchaser, please do give my podcast a five-star rating. It really does help get me in the public eye. And if you wish to donate to support the podcast, you can do so through the PayPal link in my show notes as well. Take care.