“It will be a different Ramadan,” Shabaneh said. “My fear is that it’s going to be just another day or another month. We have to work even harder to make it special.”

Shabaneh hopes to replace communal gatherings with family readings of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, prayers and special meals at home. And she looks forward to the sense of purpose she gets from her job helping patients at a behavioral health clinic.

And she is keeping up with loved ones digitally, sending messages and setting time aside for video calls.

“Just seeing the replies has brought me a little happiness and a little peace,” she said.

Though Ramadan is different, it doesn’t mean it isn’t special, said Mufti Asif Umar, the imam, or faith leader, for Daar-ul-Islam, considered the largest mosque in the St. Louis region, and for the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis.

“This is a chance we are given to really strengthen that one-on-one relationship with God that we really have,” Umar said. “Even though the doors of the mosques are shut, the mercy of God is always open and there for us.”

Social isolation can provide more chances to focus on spirituality, family and good deeds, Umar said.