President Muhammadu Buhari has sent his best wishes to Muslims in the country and around the world as they begin this year’s 30-day Ramadan fast.
“I congratulate all Muslims as they commence this year’s Ramadan fast which is depicted by self-denial, universal brotherhood, austerity, and helping relatives and needy people,” said the President on Thursday, April 23, 2020.
President Buhari in a letter by his aide, Garba Shehu, described Ramadan 2020 as a challenge, falling in the period of the global pandemic, which has spread to more than 200 nations. This pandemic has resulted in almost all countries instructing citizens to avoid large gatherings, and to have their prayers and meals (suhoor and iftar) individually or with family at home.
“In this Ramadan period, the kind of socializing you are used to now risks spreading Coronavirus,” the President cautions Muslims while enjoining them to refrain from those Ramadan rituals and traditions such as group meals and congregational prayers that have been put on hold by Muslim religious authorities all over the world.
President Buhari urged Muslims to ensure that they do not use the Coronavirus pandemic as an excuse not to participate in the Ramadan fast unless such abstention is warranted by the excuses clearly outlined by health and religious authorities. He further wished Muslims in the country and the world overall the blessings of the holy month.
