Iftar at home

The month of Ramadhan is, undoubtedly the month of caring, loving, and radiate bonhomie and camaraderie.

This year too, the holy month hasn't changed a bit but there have been changes in which we observed the holy month owing to the present pandemic situation.

Mass iftars, longer night prayers, special supplications, social gatherings, and familial get-togethers which had been the crème de la crème of the season that used to re-enforce the human bonds, bridged the gap between the rich and the poor and cemented human relations have disappeared leaving trails of nostalgia in a state of being lost.

But all that's for a cause, to beat the killer virus from spreading and to save humanity from perils just as the message of the holy Ramadhan is.

To ward off dark and bring light into the lives of people.

It was quite a common site while passing by a mosque or any public place in the evenings that people in large numbers assemble and make elaborate preparations for the meal of the day.

Men and women of various ethnic backgrounds, diverse cultural origins, wearing different attires, prepare to share their first meal of the day from a single platter while helping each other with potable water, dates, and other delicacies of breaking fast.

They stood in perfect unison for prayers in rows reiterating the vow to stay away from food and drinks and all material pleasures in life during the day and enhanced humanity at the iftar venues.

They were unanimous in committing themselves to Allah Almighty and is quite a common scene those days of the holy month of Ramadhan.

These places in the Sultanate were home for huge gatherings that emanated a sense of bonhomie among the believers, besides the hosting Omanis, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and you name it. They all sat on the mat with dates just a few minutes before the prayer to breakfast, and used to be busy saying prayers for the bounty and generosity of Allah Almighty.

While these places, all Masjids, Grand Masjid, Saud Bahwan mosque in Wadi Kabir, the vast parking lot inside Muttrah Souq, the Clock tower area, and many other places hosted the public for iftar, hotels welcomed corporate guests to their iftar gatherings enhancing their bonds.

"The holy religion of Islam attributes paramount importance to unity, sharing, and give and take so that human race will live in peace and flourish setting models for the generations to come", said Hatim Abdussalam, an Islamic scholar.

Truly, these self-controls, the power that believers have on their desires, on the urge to gather being social creatures, too are striking examples of unity, love, and compassion for each other which will pave way for the speedy recovery of the world from the pandemic.