30 Activities for 30 Days of Ramadan
By Linda Sarsour
Ramadan Mubarak! At the outset of this blessed month, we’re grateful to be able to experience it, but we know that this year, Ramadan will look much different than it has in past years.
Whether you are spending Ramadan caring for at-risk family members, isolated from those you love due to travel restrictions, or simply finding creative ways to adjust to the new normal, it’s never been more important to find ways to stay in community.
We know this will present its own unique challenge. Keeping each other safe this Ramadan means practicing physical distancing, and learning how to stay connected without the large gatherings and group prayers to which we are accustomed. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still commit to doing good deeds throughout the month — even if they must take place virtually and from afar.
In recognition of that reality, we’ve put together a list of 30 ways to stay engaged at DigitalRamadan.com:
1. Take 2 Minutes To Make Sure You Fill Out The Census
The census only comes around every 10 years, and it’s important for you and your family to be counted to make sure our tax dollars come back to our community. Take 2 minutes to fill out the census at www.my2020census.gov, and make sure #MuslimsCount.
2. Donate To Believers Bail Out
As part of #DigitalRamadan, we’re partnering with Believers Bail Out — a community-led effort to bail out Muslims in pretrial incarceration and ICE custody as a form of zakat. Please contribute to their efforts here. Please visit their site to join one of their events.
3. Plan Your Own #InternetIftar
We’ll be holding our own three national #InternetIftar events (more on them below), but there’s no reason you can’t plan your own — we’ve created this open resource for anyone who wants to plan an #InternetIftar of their own for during this holy month of Ramadan.
4. Tell Congress to #EndTheGazaBlockade and #SpreadSolidarity
As the virus continues to spread, we have to act fast to ensure that those vulnerable in Gaza — one of the densest places in the world — will have access to the basic medical resources they need to survive this pandemic.
Join us and our partners Jewish Voice for Peace in our global effort to #SpreadSolidarity to our Palestinian siblings and — quite literally — save lives. Demand your representatives take action to #EndTheGazaBlockade NOW.
5. Try Out This Ramadan Planner You Didn’t Even Know You Needed :)
This Ramadan Planner is a beautiful resource for the month ahead — including Prayer Trackers and a daily checklist.
6. Call On The U.S. Government To #EndCOVIDSanctions
If we’ve learned one thing from this global pandemic, it is that we’re more interconnected than we thought. Right now, 80 million Iranians are facing tragic consequences of U.S. sanctions in the midst of this global crisis, with Iran being a hot zone for COVID-19.
7. Donate to a Chapter of CAIR, like CAIR-Philadelphia…
CAIR-Philadelphia is one of many CAIR chapters that do outstanding, civic engagement, census and base building work . Send a donation their way if you can.
8. …or CAIR-Minnesota…
CAIR-Minnesota is one of several CAIR chapters that have been on the front lines of mobilizing against the Muslim Ban — show your support for them here.
9. …or CAIR-San Francisco Bay Area.
The San Francisco-Bay Area chapter of CAIR regularly does superb work — around the Muslim Ban and challenging government surveillance in cooperation with MPower Change members. Please make a donation to them if you are able.
10. RSVP to Join Our #InternetIftar on April 30th
Our series of 3 virtual iftars are aimed at cultivating meaningful conversations through themes of: community resilience, serving the vulnerable, and moving forward. Through these discussions we can reimagine the world around us by understanding it through each other’s lived experiences. The iftar is open to everyone — sign up for our first #InternetIftar, focused on community resilience and being held on April 30th, here.
11. If You Haven’t Already, RSVP for Believers Bail Out Virtual Ramadan Events
They have multiple excellent virtual events planned for throughout the month — see the full list here.
12. Not sure what to make for iftar? Check out our recipes on DigitalRamadan.com
There are a number of people we feature on our #DigitalRamadan Resources page who are experts in the kitchen, and can help you with all your iftar prep needs. Visit the https://www.digitalramadan.com/resources page to check them out.
13. Tell Amazon: Reinstate Fired Workers Organizing for Health and Safety Protections in Warehouses
Dozens of Amazon employees have walked off the job to protect themselves and their community. Stand with them today and tell CEO Jeff Bezos: Listen to workers, reinstate those who have been fired, and start protecting workers’ and public health.
14. Check Out Our Digital Ramadan Live-Blog!
We’re launching a #DigitalRamadan live blog! Share your new favorite recipe, funny story, piece of poetry that is filling up your spirit, or just indulge in the content from others.
15. If You Haven’t Already, Take The LaunchGood Ramadan Challenge
LaunchGood’s Ramadan Challenge automates your ability to give to a different cause for every day of Ramadan — sign up for it here.
16. Stand Against Private Prisons
Overcrowding, medical negligence, inhumane living conditions. Private prisons are notorious for all of the above on a regular day — much less in the context of Covid-19. Join us, Action Center on Race & the Economy, and Jobs with Justice in demanding our state and federal lawmakers commit to ending the use of private prisons and protect incarcerated people as the coronavirus continues to spread.
17. Take The Muslims In America Policy Poll
2020 is a crucial year for our diverse Muslim communities to form a cohesive platform that will inform candidates and elected officials. This survey is only a small piece of the larger listening and power-building work that we must do in order to win the best future for Muslim communities in the 2020 election cycle and beyond.
18. RSVP to Attend our #InternetIftar on Serving The Most Vulnerable, on May 7th
COVID-19 is not an “equalizer:” workers, undocumented families, and nations suffering from U.S. imposed sanctions or humanitarian blockade will fare the worst in this crisis. We invite you to join our conversation to examine these inequities, and ask the question over Iftar: how can we contribute to re-shaping our communities while also fighting for the rights of those most vulnerable globally?
19. Ensure That Celebrating Ramadan Feels Relevant For Your Child
This What Is Ramadan guide for children is an excellent resource and place to start.
20. Check Your Voter Registration
We’ll get through Covid and social distancing inshaAllah, and when we do, we need to be sure we have elected officials that represent our values and safety. Make sure your registration is up to speed here!
21. Try Out The Online Games on our Digital Ramadan site
Try them out here, and let us know what you think!
22. Share a Ramadan reflection using the hashtag #RamadanReflections.
Ramadan is typically a time for prayer and introspection; in the midst of Covid-19, it’ll be all the more important to find ways to connect despite the new constraints we find ourselves taking on. Let’s share our reflections this Ramadan together online, if we can’t do so together in person.
23. Connect With Others Through Our Social Media Channels
Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, we’ve strived to build social media channels that allow our members and allies to connect every day of the year — please make use of this resource freely throughout the month.
24. Find Space to Process and Cope with Our Community’s Trauma
Processing the emotional impact of this moment is so important. This page on the Muslim Wellness website includes free tools to do just that.
25. RSVP For Our #InternetIfar on Moving Forward, On May 16th
We are all learning and growing right now. Together, let’s build and sustain habits and ways of thinking to take with us into the future, with newfound gratitude in our lives for what this experience is teaching us — RSVP to join us here.
26. Check Out The #DigitalRamadan hashtag on Twitter
You’re not alone, and we are not alone — so many people across the world are experiencing Ramadan this year, under new circumstances, together. Take a minute to see what’s happening out there with the #DigitalRamadan hashtag, and let the world know your own experiences.
27. Reflect on the vital importance of social justice within Islam
We highly recommend this ongoing course in 40 Hadiths on Social Justice, presented by Sh. Omar Suleiman of the Yaqeen Institute.
28. Help Fight Against Voter Suppression with #MyMuslimVote
#MyMuslimVote has free resources of every stripe ensuring we stay civically engaged through the rest of this year — take a moment to reacquaint yourself.
29. Make Use of Resources For MASA Organizing
We strongly recommend this resource list, compiled by the MASA Organizing network coordinators, focused on information and resources that may be helpful for Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities and advocates in this moment.
30. Make A Donation To MPower Change
Our #MuslimLedOrganizing is going to be vital for the year to come — and we are powered by your contributions. If you are able, make a donation here.