When a Crisis Empties Mosques: A Case Study of Muslim Responses to the Pandemic’s Challenges in Regards to Spiritual Care and Communal Rituals in Austria and Germany

Abstract

Abstract Cases from both Germany and Austria exemplify how the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing traditionally held ideas of Islamic community, religious congregations, and pastoral care. These cases were collected during Ramadan 2020, as this particular period signifies a time of paramount spirituality, social solidarity, and communal festivity. They reflect the rich and vibrant efforts and responses of Muslim leaders, organizations, and institutions to the challenges posed by the current pandemic. Different initiatives and solutions Muslim communities have developed as a response to COVID-19 are characterized as “caring communities.” Muslim chaplains, despite their highly limited personal access to secluded, lonesome, and distressed individuals in need of support, overcame the restrictions. Muslim leaders have striven to make use of the virtual space to fulfil the ordinary function of mosques as places of worship and communication. They have thus attempted to uphold social solidarity (zakat). Their responses to the pandemic raise questions about the future of religiosity and its manifestation as well as possible forms of religious communities and their ethical values.