The local Muslim community is preparing to observe the holy month of Ramadan under fundamentally different circumstances than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic, writes Alfred Lubrano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The devout will have to work with closed mosques, virtual sermons, and canceled communal feasts.

Eid, a three-day holiday at the end of Ramadan that is celebrated by visiting graveyards of relatives and having lunch with family and friends, will also be scaled back significantly.

“I’m really sad,” said Dana Mohamed, director of community engagement for Iqra Institute, a West Norriton mosque.

Each year, Mohamed plans the Eid celebration for the mosque in either King of Prussia or Phoenixville, with the cooperation of a Muslim community center.

“It usually brings 1,000 people, with games and rides for kids, people selling gifts, and halal food,” she said. “I feel a loss, especially for the children.”

But some also see this as an opportunity to get closer to God.

If you have to be in isolation, “you have the opportunity to think deeply about your existence and, ultimately, your relationship to God,” said Selaedin Maksut, the state’s executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Read more about the Ramadan preparations at The Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.