In More Ways Than One, Burlington Masjid Grows in Second Ramadan During Pandemic

BURLINGTON, N.C. — Around four plots on the lawn of the Burlington Masjid, a group of Elon students and members of the mosque have restored a community garden. What was once overgrown patches of weeds abandoned with the start of the pandemic, has become a community project shared by adults, college students and kids alike of multiple backgrounds and faiths. 

Over Krispy Kreme donuts and bottles of water, the group met one late March morning to begin cleaning out the plots, removing weeds, refurbishing soil and making space for a garden to come. Working gloves and gardening tools were passed around, borrowed from Loy Farms. They met again with some new faces in early April to plant new crops. 

The month since has been a significant one—for Muslims, the most significant month of the year. On the Islamic calendar, April 12 marked the beginning of Ramadan, a holy month of fasting and reflection. This time is spent reading the Quran, praying, helping the community and only eating once the sun goes down in an evening meal called Iftar.

As the sun sets tomorrow, May 12, Muslims will celebrate their last Iftar of the year. The second Ramadan celebrated during COVID-19 will have come to a close.

Moneeb Sayed, a youth coordinator at the Burlington Masjid, said that a big loss during Ramadan inflicted by Covid has been not being able to have traditional community Iftars. The mosque had to adapt a distanced model to uphold tradition and community while staying safe by following state guidelines. 

The solution was drive-through Iftars. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during Ramadan, community volunteers gathered hundreds of meals and distributed them to community members who pulled up alongside the masjid in their cars. Then, once they went home and upon the sun setting, did their evening prayer, community members could join a Zoom meeting to break their fasts together. 

Sayed also runs nightly programs for the masjid youths on Zoom so that they can have a similar experience to their parents who are participating in Ramadan prayers. Instead of reading the whole Quran, the kids aim for a chapter under Sayed’s guidance.

This year, there have been limited in-person options too. This is a new development from last year when there was no Covid vaccine and the disease was still very novel. 

“I will say we have learned from the previous year,” said Sayed. “This year, I'd say the improvement is just a lot more awareness of it [adapted programs] and a lot more people interested in helping out.” 

Especially when it comes to the drive-throughs, Sayed sees these adaptations as a positive step.  The drive-throughs have been a way for the masjid to make sure that every community member had a decent meal to break their fast, whether they can afford it or not. They also used the weekly drive-throughs to distribute groceries from their food pantry. If there was extra food, it was donated to families in need or local homeless shelters. The benefits of the drive-through have been so positive that the Burlington Masjid plans to continue this program event once in-person Iftars are possible and distancing is no longer necessary.

There have been advantages beyond the physical too. The community, Sayed said, has been driven closer together through higher levels of concern for one another. Even though they have to interact mostly virtually, the masjid community is tighter than ever, even promoting spiritual growth. Sayed used a metaphor of a human body to represent the community as one in times of hurting. 

“One of the things we're told about how Muslims should be to another is, in their kindness, in their mercy, in their compassion is that of a human body,” he said. “When one part aches, one part is hurt, the rest of the body reacts with sleeplessness and fever… That's kind of been kind putting faith into practice more.”

So even though these new adaptations were born from the tragedy of a pandemic, they have led to spiritual and community growth in ways that may even take more permanent roots. Meanwhile, the community garden across the grass has also taken root and begun to grow. 

“It's been great to see the garden growing again. It's very symbolic, I think, of coming back stronger,” said Sandy Marshall, Elon assistant professor of geography and involved member of the Burlington mosque. “It's pretty much a metaphor I think for the masjid itself—just how much it's grown over the last several years.”

The once-barren plots have begun to sprout green leaves of all shapes and sizes, some tinged deep purple, with the promise of fruits, vegetables and herbs to come. Despite being advised that they wouldn’t see any strawberries for at least a year, the garden has bred four so far and counting. Kale, peppermint and tomatoes are ready for harvest as well.