Source: The Alligator
When city mosques like the Hoda Center closed at the pandemic’s start, plans for Eid were uncertain for weeks. A year later, the center is excited to attempt a return to normalcy.
The communal prayers first-year UF medical student Yusuf Mehkri led on Eid had to be in person. Last year, the community prayed at home and the celebration, along with events worldwide, was canceled for their safety.
But this year, the center rented out the Legacy Park Recreation Complex in the city of Alachua that could fit up to a few thousand socially distanced people before 9 a.m. on May 13. Breakfast was pre-packaged to ensure safety.
Used to leading daily prayers on Zoom, Mehkri, 22, felt a huge relief praying in-person.
“You never thought that one day would be your last day in months and months that you’d ever be able to step inside the place that you call your spiritual home,” he said.
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Slowly the center is increasing capacity as more people get vaccinated, and it might reduce gaps to three feet.
Many Muslism students like Mehkri, haven’t gone back home since the pandemic started. Now vaccinated, he plans to return home to New Jersey sometime this summer.
“When you’re fasting all day, you wanna be around your family,” he said.
Omolola Suleiman feels the same. When she thinks of Ramadan, the smell of her mother’s signature Nigerian jollof rice and occasional pizza come to mind.
During last year’s Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr celebrations, the pandemic forced the 20-year-old UF biology second year student to return home to Pembroke Pines, Florida. Her family and their home-cooked meals comforted her.
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