The Prophet Muhammad once told his followers never to enter or leave a town that has the plague, to avoid spreading the disease.

That advice seems timely for this year’s Ramadan. The annual Islamic holy month is upon us, during which Muslims fast from food, drink (Not even water? No, not even water) and sex from sunrise to sunset. Thanks to social-distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, most of us won’t be leaving our homes, let alone our towns, this month. My family’s Google calendar is completely empty. There are no community iftars, the fast-breaking meals. The local mosques are all shut down.

In the years before this pandemic, despite the hangry, exhausted moments that tend to accompany fasting, Ramadan always left me with a faint smile. I’d relish the memories of the month’s daily rituals and the beautiful chaos of a community in constant motion.

This time, everyday life has been upended, and we will confront a different kind of chaos. How can there be community engagement and worship, which is as central to Ramadan as the fast, during a lockdown and quarantine?