London mayor urges Muslims to spend #RamadanAtHome
London Mayor Sadiq Khan promotes #RamadanAtHome campaign amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan is promoting the #RamadanAtHome campaign along with British Muslim front-line and essential workers and celebrities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“This Ramadan, I’m staying at home,” Khan says in a video. “To protect our doctors, nurses. To protect our NHS. To protect our superheroes. This Ramadan, I’m praying for the world but from home. You can be a life saver.”
The video urges all Muslims to stay home and save lives throughout the holy month of Ramadan. All mosques will also be closed, which will stop congregational prayers.
A number of other leading Muslim British personalities have also lent their support to the online campaign, such as actor and singer Riz Ahmed and Al Jazeera’s journalist Mehdi Hasan.
The campaign comes after news of the deaths of Egyptian doctor Medhat Atalla and Libyan orthopaedic surgeon Sadeq Elhowsh after contracting COVID-19.
Their deaths are the latest in a growing list of front-line doctors and medics in the UK who were Muslims or originally from the Middle East and North Africa, who have succumbed to the virus.
Last week, the hashtag #YouClapForMeNow went viral online thanks to a video featuring diverse UK residents reciting an anti-racism poem highlighting the key role immigrant workers have been playing in the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the Muslim Council of Britain, nearly 400 mosques and prayer facilities have suspended congregations.
This report was produced and edited by Al Jazeera NewsFeed’s Seena Khalil.