The vast majority of my Muslim neighbours and family members have had visitors over for Eid. Not just one household, but a steady stream of them. My mum, who’s vulnerable and has pretty much kept to herself over the last couple of months, has mixed with four different households since Sunday. Her response is ‘Well they turned up/travelled to say Eid Mubarak. They’re right on our doorstep. I couldn’t possibly turn them away without serving them food’.
Media accounts of how Muslim communities life in extended family networks miss the point that these ties are not simply dependent on proximity but are based on entrenched feelings of social obligation.
Bearing in mind that the BAME community is more at risk anyway, I’m pissed off at the Muslims I know, fearful of a second spike, and hoping that the cites they live in get locked the fuck down again before they all get sick.