Iftar reminded me of a group playing musical chairs as everyone tried to find a seat around the table. Nana bowed his head and began his daily Ramadan ritual by reciting verses of the Qu’ran and thanking Allah for His mercy and bounty.

This time of the day has always been my favourite in Ramadan, as it brought a sense of calmness and benevolence to the atmosphere. Just then the mu’adhin calling the adhaan could be heard as it carried through the air and all at once a silence descended upon the world.

And that was suddenly shattered as the adhaan ended and instead the sound of cutlery and crockery coming together broke the silence. It did not last long though as everyone left the table to perform the Magrib prayer.

As I returned to the dinner table, I remembered the samoosas for Nana. Handing him a plateful of his most loved savoury brought forth a toothless smile and much praise for me. “My dua has been answered and my patience rewarded!”, he said.

Just then Nani, realised that she had not been given any samoosas. With a withering look, she questioned, “Only the Nana gets? What’s wrong with me?”

Nana, quick-witted as usual pipes up, “Everything!” And that did it! Nani, burst into tears and it took my parents ten minutes to get her to stop and eventually Nana, passed the plate of samoosas to her as a gesture of a truce. He had demolished almost all the dozen samoosas from the plate!

“Mairoon, we must make dua for Sofia to find a husband. That way, she can bring samoosas every time she visits.” Of course, this brought about an embarrassed silence with everyone trying hard to ignore the remarks. Mum had placed her palm across her face and Nani sat shaking her head at the old man. “No shame you got? You don’t know Sofia broke off the wedding?”, she scolded.

I couldn’t understand why it was every Indian elders’ life mission, or what was left of their lives to go on a mission to get people married!

My Uncle broke the mood as he reminisced of Ramadans gone by, becoming quite emotional in the process. He missed breaking fast among his brothers at the masjid and the camaraderie as they tasted the different foods that were always sent by the many housewives. Of course, the topic turned to the situation of the masajid being closed and the debate raging over it.

He had reminded us that we moan about mosques closing but throughout the year the same places are empty, and we attack the alims who we, under normal circumstances, say aren’t doing enough but when they do make an effect, under difficult circumstances, we berate them.

I suddenly felt a twinge of guilt remembering all the times we had tried to stop Dad and Nana from attending the masjid for Esha, saying it was dangerous or for Fajr with the excuse that it was cold. Now with the masajid shut, we once again complain and blame.

Well, this was a reminder from Allah, again! Why wait to bring change to your life?

A microscopic creation has turned our world topsy-turvy, with no chance of us ever returning to what we saw as normal. A clear reminder that we need to become more heedful of Allah and our purpose on this Earth.

Allah tells us in the Noble Qu’ran: “God makes things easy for those who are mindful of Him.”