The Ramadan Pandemic Culture in the UAE

I will be examining the Ramadan artifact of this pandemic in the United Arab Emirates culture. Ramadan is the holy month of fasting in Islam and is celebrated in all Muslim countries such as the United Arab Emirates. Ramadan's holy month has many purposes, such as teaching us patience, unity, love, and peace. Many traditions that my family and all Muslim families practice during Ramadan are now impossible to practice because of the pandemic. The main ones include family gatherings, a lot of charity work, shopping for Eid, and sharing food with neighbors and friends.

During the month of Ramadan, also known as the month of fasting, Muslims all around the world fast from sunrise till sunset. During the day, we focus on charity work and joining a volunteer group organized by people in our community. This year's Ramadan started on Thursday, April 23rd, and ended on Saturday, May 23rd, which was five days ago. This year, however, with the unfortunate pandemic situation, we were unable to volunteer by visiting and donating food and money to people due to the quarantine. The most important thing is helping people out as much as we can because giving charity is one of the five pillars of Islam. This year, however, many people created online fundraisers and shared them on social media sites to raise money to feed the hungry and poor people in the middle east and other countries.

Another principal value in the UAE culture is unity. Every Ramadan, families gather at sunset to do "Iftaar," which is the breaking of fasting by eating. The tradition is to make food that is enough for everyone and share it with our families, neighbors, and

friend during gatherings. Family gatherings are the best part, in my opinion. Eating and laughing together, then watching all the Ramadan shows with my family, is always the best. This year, gatherings are prohibited to remain safe and prevent contracting the virus. The importance of unity and staying connected with family is why many families in the UAE have used skype and zoom to talk and celebrate Ramadan together. It is not as fun, but at least it is the best way to keep everyone safe and connected.

There is a relevant quote that is said a lot here in the United Arab Emirates, and it says: "prevention is better than cure." We all would love to see our loved ones, whether we were from the UAE or any other country. The world right now as separated as it is, we are all still going through the same challenges and emotions. It is a terrifying situation; however, it does teach us to appreciate the simple moments that we took for granted. In my opinion, quarantine and being separated from people will only make it much more exciting and fun to see them again. Thankfully, we live in an era with many social media apps and accessible internet, which helps us stay connected. It is in fact better to stay safe and prevent the disease from happening, rather than treating it.

One fundamental lesson of Ramadan is learning how to be more patient. The purpose of fasting the whole day is to feel what others feel and learn to be more sympathetic. In the UAE, we believe that "patience is the key to relief," this applies to all situations and not only during fasting. With the current world pandemic, I think that everyone should take it as an opportunity to learn how to be patient because in the end, no matter how tough life is, all bad things will come to an end, hopefully, this pandemic as well.

While most of the Ramadan food gets cooked at home, this year was a little different. It became harder going grocery shopping at any time, and there are many restrictions such as wearing masks and gloves and only allowing a specific number of people to shop at a time. All the safety restrictions and rules implemented makes it more challenging to have everything needed at home. Therefore, many people use the app called "Talabat" that is very known and used here to order food and grocery items. This pandemic forced people to online shop more than usual. Online shopping is much more comfortable and better due to safety concerns and the free time we have.

Another tradition in the UAE is shopping for the Eid celebration. After Ramadan, Eid Al-Fitr is celebrated for three days. Eid shopping this year has been less exciting than before. However, we still managed to shop when malls are open at specific times. It is encouraged to look good and wear new clothes during eid to greet all your close and far relatives. Another tradition is adults giving teenagers and children money; sadly, this didn't happen this year. Huge gatherings are also what we would typically do during eid, but again, it got canceled this year.

Ramadan is one of the main celebrations in Islam, and although it did not feel the same as before, it was still great. I chose it as my cultural artifact because I wanted to share the beautiful traditions and values behind them. Staying in touch with family, sharing, and helping people out in the simplest ways is wonderful. Our gatherings might have been cancelled, however, As an Emirati community, we stayed home and followed the rules for the safety of our people and country.