Muslims Celebrate a Dull Eid al-Fitr amid Virus Lockdown

Shiite Iraqis will mark the start of Eid al-Fitr on Monday, while their Sunni compatriots will begin celebrations on Sunday. AFP
Shiite Iraqis will mark the start of Eid al-Fitr on Monday, while their Sunni compatriots will begin celebrations on Sunday. AFP
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Muslims Celebrate a Dull Eid al-Fitr amid Virus Lockdown

Shiite Iraqis will mark the start of Eid al-Fitr on Monday, while their Sunni compatriots will begin celebrations on Sunday. AFP
Shiite Iraqis will mark the start of Eid al-Fitr on Monday, while their Sunni compatriots will begin celebrations on Sunday. AFP

Muslims around the world began marking a somber Eid al-Fitr Sunday with many of them under coronavirus lockdown.

This festival is different this year. Celebration is concealed by the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic, with many countries tightening lockdown restrictions after a partial easing during Ramadan led to a sharp spike in infections.

Usually, this holiday is considered one of the most important in the Muslim calendar marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It is traditionally celebrated with mosque prayers, family feasts and shopping for new clothes, gifts and sweet treats.

Further dampening the festive spirit, multiple countries -- from Egypt, Turkey and Syria -- have banned mass prayer gatherings, a festival highlight, to limit the spread of the disease.

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, will reopen to worshippers only after Eid, its governing body said, AFP reported.

In Lebanon, the highest Sunni religious authority has announced the reopening of mosques only for Friday prayers. Worshippers, however, will be subject to temperature checks and sanitary controls before they enter.

Meanwhile, more than 3,500 Tunisians who traveled home just ahead of the holiday will have to spend it away from their families, forced to quarantine for two weeks in hotels after arriving from abroad.

Also in Iran, which has experienced the Middle East's deadliest outbreak, has called on its citizens to avoid travel during Eid as it battles to control infection rates.

Iran shut schools and places of worship and banned inter-city travel for the Persian New Year holidays in March, but the restrictions were recently eased.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that the country was focusing hard on avoiding "new peaks of the disease" caused by people "not respecting health regulations".

In the Syrian capital Damascus, Eid shoppers rummaged through flea markets for clothes at bargain prices as the war-ravaged and sanctions-hit country grapples with a much more entrenched economic crisis.

"The flea market is the only place I can buy something new to wear for the Eid holidays," 28-year-old Sham Alloush told AFP.

"Had it not been for this place, I wouldn't have been able to buy new clothes at all."

But promising some laughs in these dire times, 40 Muslim comedians from across the world will host a virtual show on Sunday called "The Socially Distant Eid Comedy Night".

"This Ramadan has been particularly difficult for communities around the world," said Muddassar Ahmed, head of the Concordia Forum, the organizer of the event.



Indonesia: Residents Wear Masks as Volcanic Ash Blankets Villages Near Erupting Volcano

A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT
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Indonesia: Residents Wear Masks as Volcanic Ash Blankets Villages Near Erupting Volcano

A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT

Residents wore masks to protect themselves from thick volcanic ash that blanketed roads and green rice fields in villages in south-central Indonesia as rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted Tuesday for a second straight day.

The eruption at dawn sent lava and clouds of ash up to 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) high. That followed an eruption around midday Monday that sent a column of volcanic materials up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky and an evening burst that spewed lava and send volcanic ash as high as 13 kilometers (8 miles) into the air, The Associated Press reported.

Photos and videos circulating on social media showed terrified residents ran for their lives under the rain of ash and gravel and motorists struggled to drive motorbikes and cars in the reduced visibility as the ash clouds from Monday's eruption expanded into a mushroom shape.

No casualties have been reported from the latest eruptions of the volcano that has been at the highest alert level since June 18 when its no-go zone was expanded to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson.

“People around the volcano have increasingly understood how to minimize the impact of disaster risks as eruptions became more frequent since the end of 2023,” Muhari said in a statement.

The eruptions of the volcano on Flores Island affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages in East Flores and Sikka districts, according to initial assessments by the local disaster management agency.

Thick volcanic ash and rocks were reported to have fallen in villages of Nawakote, Klantanio, Hokeng Jaya, Boru, Pululera and Wulanggitang, where roads and green rice fields were transformed into grey thick mud and rocks, said Very Awales, an public information official at Sikka district administration, adding that schools were closed in those affected areas since Monday to protect students and staff from various hazards due to volcanic activities.

“The smell of sulfur and ash hung so thickly in the air that breathing was painful,” Awales said.

Authorities distributed 50,000 masks and urged residents to limit outdoor activities to protect themselves from volcanic materials. Residents were also urged to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.

The eruption of Lewotobi Laki Laki followed its eruption in November 2024 that killed nine people and injured dozens.

The Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava traveling up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) down the slopes of the 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) mountain Monday. Observations from drones showed lava filling the crater, indicating deep movement of magma that set off volcanic earthquakes. Volcanic materials, including hot thumb-size gravel, were thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater.

Muhari said two airports in the cities of Maumere and Larantuka in East Nusa Tenggara province remained closed Tuesday.

Dozens of flights to and from the Ngurah Rai international airport on the resort island of Bali were delayed or canceled, but airport spokesperson Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said the airport was running normally despite the cancellations, as monitoring showed the volcanic ash had not affected Bali’s airspace.