In Photos: Malaysians celebrate Eid al Fitr in lockdown

Muslims in Malaysia observed the month of Ramadan and the Eid al Fitr celebrations from home amidst the country's largely successful effort to flatten the COVID-19 curve, after a religious gathering of an estimated 16,000 people that took place from February 27 to March 1 at a mosque near Kuala Lumpur ignited COVID-19 clusters all across Malaysia and Southeast and South Asia.

The gathering accounted for 37 percent of Malaysia’s confirmed nearly 6,000 coronavirus cases and about 100 deaths. Since March 18, the country has responded to the pandemic with the most restrictive measures in Southeast Asia, closing its borders, banning gatherings, shutting schools and houses of worship, and allowing only essential businesses to remain open. Malaysians have only been allowed to travel for necessities within six miles of their homes, with only one person allowed in each car.

The mosques stayed closed in Malaysia throughout the Ramadan month, with the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur streaming live prayers on social media. As Malaysia saw a drop in the number of COVID-19 cases, on May 15 a few mosques reopened around the country for limited numbers of people with social distancing rules in areas where no new cases were recorded.

“In the past years we would congregate at the mosque for fast breaking and Tarawih prayers, but this year, because of COVID-19, we have to conduct our prayers from home,” said Isfadiah Mohd Dasuki, an ustazah from Kuala Lumpur. “We have to choose our own imam and bilal, who assists the imam with the recitations, and this has been a learning opportunity for our two sons who took turns along with their father in leading the Tarawih prayers.”

During the Ramadan month, Muslims provide and give to many charity activities, like donating food for the poor. That was the case even more this year to serve those financially burdened by the COVID-19 crisis. Many individuals donated to NGOs that provided daily meals or food ingredients. One of the NGOs based in a low-income neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur provided cooked meals before fast-breaking to around 50-100 people per day.

“We do food distribution every year during the Ramadan month,” said Mitch Yusmar Yusof, director of the NGO. “This year our donors had food delivered to our center from various restaurants and we distributed it to the people who need it.”

Isfadiah and her family have an online group call with relatives from other towns in Malaysia during the fast breaking in their house in Kuala Lumpur on May 22. “We would usually gather with our extended family in my mother’s house in Kedah a few days before the Eid celebration, but this year it was not possible because of the travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 lockdown, so we meet online every night during fast breaking,” said Isfadiah. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

A security guard sits in the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur on April 24. During the month Ramadan all mosques were closed this year as Malaysia fights against the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

An imam and his assistants perform the Tarawih prayer at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur on April 24. The prayer was broadcasted live. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Isfadiah and her daughters perform Tarawih prayers in their home in Kuala Lumpur on May 22. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

An imam performs Tarawih prayer on the first day of Ramadan at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur. The prayer was broadcasted live. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Men pray at a counter set in front of a shop in Kuala Lumpur for paying the Zakat al Fitr - a sum of money given for the poor a few days before the end of the Ramadan month. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Housemates break fast together on the first day of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur. It is their first Ramadan away from their families while Malaysia is under a Movement Control Order aimed at fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Employees of an NGO based in a low-income neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur distribute food before fast breaking on May 22. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

A woman drives a fully loaded motorbike after shopping ahead of the Eid al Fitr celebration in Kuala Lumpur. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Women shop for new head scarves ahead of the Eid al Fitr celebration in Kuala Lumpur. Shops were open under certain conditions, with limited numbers of people allowed to shop at the same time and contact tracing. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Employees of an NGO cook chicken satay - a Malaysian traditional food - on the morning of the first day of Eid al Fitr in the courtyard of their office in Kuala Lumpur. With interstate travel banned, many people could not return to their original towns to celebrate Eid al Fitr with their extended families. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Employees of an NGO in Kuala Lumpur and their close families eat together on the morning of the first day of Eid al Fitr. Many people could not travel to their original villages and be with their extended families for the Eid al Fitr celebrations because of interstate travel restrictions imposed by the Malaysian government in the fight against the spread of the virus. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

A child receives a face mask as a present on the first day of Eid al Fitr at a celebration organized by an NGO in Kuala Lumpur for employees that couldn’t return to their hometowns. “Usually we would give colorful envelopes with small amounts of money to children as presents during the Eid al Fitr celebration, but this year my mother decided to make these cute face masks to give to children instead of money,” said Muhammad Mubasyir Zakaria, an employee of the NGO. Photo by Alexandra Radu.

Shopping before the Eid al Fitr celebration is a big part of the preparations— people buy new clothes, house decorations and ingredients to cook traditional foods. In order to avoid big crowds in shopping areas, the Malaysian government banned Ramadan bazars, forcing most people to do their shopping online. The shops that were open after the lockdown relaxation which started on May 4 operated under social distancing rules and contact tracing.

With interstate travel still banned across the country, many families that would usually return to their villages for the traditional Eid al Fitr extended family gatherings had to celebrate the end of Ramadan in the cities where they live and meet their loved ones through online calls. Some people chose to spend their first day of Eid al Fitr with their work colleagues, congregating in small groups under 20 people, the maximum number of people allowed in a gathering after the lockdown relaxation.

“Normally we would never be together with our work colleagues for the first day of Eid, as this day is always reserved for spending time with our extended families,” said Isak Abdul Kadir, founder and president of an NGO that organized an Eid celebration. “This year though, because of the COVID-19 epidemic we had to change the way we celebrate, we had to adapt to the new conditions and because most of our staff could not be with their parents and cousins that live in other parts of the country, we decided to have a celebration here, at the office, with the work family.”

Alexandra Radu is a photojournalist based in Bucharest, Romania. She has been published in Al Jazeera, the New York Times, Religion News Service, Reuters and AP, and her images have won awards at the Religion News Association Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence in 2017, 2018 and 2019.