For many families this year, the religious festival that marks the end of Ramadan will be celebrated without love ones due to the pandemic – our prayers are with those that have tragically fallen to this disease and that the Almighty receives their soul in a shroud of mercy.

Personally, faith has been the fundamental coping mechanism to deal with loss, to help shorten the grieving period as affirmation that this disease can and will be supressed.

Ilford Recorder: Mohamed Omer says we have a moral obligation to obey Covid regulations.Mohamed Omer says we have a moral obligation to obey Covid regulations. (Image: Archant)

I firmly believe that it’s every individual's responsibility to play a part in the fight against this pandemic.

At Gardens of Peace, we have hosted three successful pop-up clinics to support the vaccination programme rolled out by the government.

We continue to urge anyone who is offered the vaccine to come forward and take it as it is one of our main protections against the spread of this deadly virus.

As restrictions start to ease, it’s imperative that we continue to follow government guidelines so that we can collectively - with the assistance of the Almighty - take steps in returning to normality.

I would like to end by wishing all Muslim brothers and sisters a very happy Eid and I pray that the Almighty accepts our fasts, almsgiving and supplications.