Muslim community marks end of Ramadan
Muslims marking the end of the holy month enjoy breaking their fast and pray for world peace.
12:00 PM EST on Wednesday, November 26, 2003
BY RICHARD C. DUJARDIN
Journal Religion Writer
Muslims Gather: Meeno Jahan, of Cumberland, greets a friend yesterday at an observance of Eid al-Fitr at Rhodes on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston, making the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
CRANSTON -- Nearly 2,000 Muslims from all over Rhode Island converged at Rhodes on-the-Pawtuxet yesterday to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and an end to their month-long fast. They shared joy, gratitude and yearnings for world peace.
The celebration has been a tradition in Islam since the days of the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago, and based on a sighting of the crescent of the first new moon after the holy month of Ramadan.
The timing this year has given American Muslims special reason to celebrate: for the first time in several decades, they can join their own three-day festival to the holiday of Thanksgiving.
"It's nice when the holidays coincide," said Nasser Zawia, a board member of the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement.
During the last 30 days, all Muslims over the age of 10 were required by the teachings of their faith to adhere to a strict code of abstinence from food, drink, tobacco or sexual relations between dawn and sunset. That is, until the end of Ramadan and yesterday's "breaking of the fast."
Prayer: Observant Muslim men bow their heads as part of this annual religious ritual in Cranston yeaterday.
Many said they prayed for world peace.
Amadou Keita, 45, an immigrant from Guinea now living in Pawtucket, arrived at yesterday's service with his wife and four children. He said the fast has always been meant to be a reminder that no matter how much one prospers, one must be ready to help those who suffer hunger and other misfortune.
"The fast helps us think of those people, so when we end our fast we can still think of them," he said.
In that spirit, Keita donated money for a fund to help the destitute before coming to yesterday's celebration.
As has long been the custom at Muslim services, men and women had their separate spaces during the communal prayer. With prayer mats and stocking feet, the men crowded onto the ballroom's shiny wood floor. The women and younger children took up places in the balcony and in the rear.
Imam Abdul Hameed, leader of Providence's Masjid al Karim, the Islamic Center of Rhode Island, led the recitations of the Koran and gave the sermon.
Family Observance: Al Pauthwala of Providence, holds his 10 month old son, Sahil as his wife, Durdana watches after a morning of prayers at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, in Cranston, to begin the Muslim Holiday od Eid al-Fitr. The holiday marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
It was, in some ways, a time for reflection, on how much the Muslim community has grown.
Waleed Muhammad, who converted to Islam while living in Chicago in 1975 and is now associated with the Muslim American Dawah Center, said he still remembers the much smaller Eid services of the 1980s when they were held in Lincoln Woods State Park and drew maybe 150 people.
"Today I couldn't even find a place in the parking lot; that's how much Islam is growing," Muhammad said.
He said the diversity of the services, with people from so many nationalities, was striking. He said he thinks about what it would be like going on a haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims hope to make before they die, and yesterday's gathering reminded him of that.
"This is a small idea of what a haj would be, being on pilgrimage with people from all over the world," Muhammad said.
The growing strength of the community was reflected as well by the fliers distributed by Sister Jennah Ead, of North Providence, announcing plans for a new Islamic school for children as early as next year.
"We've done everything with the state, now we have to find a building," she said, explaining that the Muslims are seeking a school "so our children can grow up in a little more controlled environment, so they will learn their Koran, their Islam, and their religion, just like a Catholic school."
Although there are many Muslims who are now in public school, she said, there are others who are home-schooled, and others who attend Muslim schools in Sharon and Worcester, Mass., in the hope of avoiding the "boyfriend, girlfriend influence" in so many public schools.
Prayers: Wura Fakolujo 4, of providence, rests her head as she stands next to her cousins, Princess Agbaje, 6 ans Adeola Adetago as they say the Eid prayeer yesterday at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston
Shahid Karim, 35, originally from Pakistan, had reason to hope in the future, too. A scientist researching the causes of Lyme disease, he said he and his colleagues at University of Rhode Island are close to announcing, within the next two years, the discovery of a vaccine that could effectively stop the spread of Lyme disease.
But for many Muslims attending yesterday's communal prayer, some of the joy was tempered by what they acknowledged was sadness over current world events.
Mohammad Arif, the North Smithfield physician and native of Pakistan who helped establish the Masjid al-Islam, said that as with other Americans, he grieves for the loss of life, on both sides, in Iraq and elsewhere.
"The world is in turmoil, and once the bloodshed starts, each side is killing the other. All we just want is peace and quiet, and happiness for everybody," he said.
Asaf Ashraf, 69, of South Kingstown, a quality-control specialist originally from India, said that in addition to praying for health for his family, his main wish is that there be peace in the world.
The attacks on innocent people, Muslim and non-Muslim, by various extremists are against any teaching in Islam, said Ashraf, who said he has no quarrel with the decision of the United States to go into Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein.
"To get rid of a tyrant is always the right thing," he said.
Zawia, a URI professor in addition to serving on the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement, said he, too, is glad that Saddam Hussein was deposed, but he is inclined to think there could have been another way.
"My prayer is for unity and for peace and reconciliation among faiths and populations," he said. "I think our biggest problem is that we have fringes in the Muslim world that have animosity toward the United States, and fringes in the United States that have animosity toward the Muslim world.
"These fringes, which are minorities, are stealing the agenda and leading a clash between the two groups, when there is really no need for that to happen," Zawia said.
12:00 PM EST on Wednesday, November 26, 2003
BY RICHARD C. DUJARDIN
Journal Religion Writer
Muslims Gather: Meeno Jahan, of Cumberland, greets a friend yesterday at an observance of Eid al-Fitr at Rhodes on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston, making the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
CRANSTON -- Nearly 2,000 Muslims from all over Rhode Island converged at Rhodes on-the-Pawtuxet yesterday to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and an end to their month-long fast. They shared joy, gratitude and yearnings for world peace.
The celebration has been a tradition in Islam since the days of the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago, and based on a sighting of the crescent of the first new moon after the holy month of Ramadan.
The timing this year has given American Muslims special reason to celebrate: for the first time in several decades, they can join their own three-day festival to the holiday of Thanksgiving.
"It's nice when the holidays coincide," said Nasser Zawia, a board member of the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement.
During the last 30 days, all Muslims over the age of 10 were required by the teachings of their faith to adhere to a strict code of abstinence from food, drink, tobacco or sexual relations between dawn and sunset. That is, until the end of Ramadan and yesterday's "breaking of the fast."
Prayer: Observant Muslim men bow their heads as part of this annual religious ritual in Cranston yeaterday.
Many said they prayed for world peace.
Amadou Keita, 45, an immigrant from Guinea now living in Pawtucket, arrived at yesterday's service with his wife and four children. He said the fast has always been meant to be a reminder that no matter how much one prospers, one must be ready to help those who suffer hunger and other misfortune.
"The fast helps us think of those people, so when we end our fast we can still think of them," he said.
In that spirit, Keita donated money for a fund to help the destitute before coming to yesterday's celebration.
As has long been the custom at Muslim services, men and women had their separate spaces during the communal prayer. With prayer mats and stocking feet, the men crowded onto the ballroom's shiny wood floor. The women and younger children took up places in the balcony and in the rear.
Imam Abdul Hameed, leader of Providence's Masjid al Karim, the Islamic Center of Rhode Island, led the recitations of the Koran and gave the sermon.
Family Observance: Al Pauthwala of Providence, holds his 10 month old son, Sahil as his wife, Durdana watches after a morning of prayers at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, in Cranston, to begin the Muslim Holiday od Eid al-Fitr. The holiday marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
It was, in some ways, a time for reflection, on how much the Muslim community has grown.
Waleed Muhammad, who converted to Islam while living in Chicago in 1975 and is now associated with the Muslim American Dawah Center, said he still remembers the much smaller Eid services of the 1980s when they were held in Lincoln Woods State Park and drew maybe 150 people.
"Today I couldn't even find a place in the parking lot; that's how much Islam is growing," Muhammad said.
He said the diversity of the services, with people from so many nationalities, was striking. He said he thinks about what it would be like going on a haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims hope to make before they die, and yesterday's gathering reminded him of that.
"This is a small idea of what a haj would be, being on pilgrimage with people from all over the world," Muhammad said.
The growing strength of the community was reflected as well by the fliers distributed by Sister Jennah Ead, of North Providence, announcing plans for a new Islamic school for children as early as next year.
"We've done everything with the state, now we have to find a building," she said, explaining that the Muslims are seeking a school "so our children can grow up in a little more controlled environment, so they will learn their Koran, their Islam, and their religion, just like a Catholic school."
Although there are many Muslims who are now in public school, she said, there are others who are home-schooled, and others who attend Muslim schools in Sharon and Worcester, Mass., in the hope of avoiding the "boyfriend, girlfriend influence" in so many public schools.
Prayers: Wura Fakolujo 4, of providence, rests her head as she stands next to her cousins, Princess Agbaje, 6 ans Adeola Adetago as they say the Eid prayeer yesterday at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston
Shahid Karim, 35, originally from Pakistan, had reason to hope in the future, too. A scientist researching the causes of Lyme disease, he said he and his colleagues at University of Rhode Island are close to announcing, within the next two years, the discovery of a vaccine that could effectively stop the spread of Lyme disease.
But for many Muslims attending yesterday's communal prayer, some of the joy was tempered by what they acknowledged was sadness over current world events.
Mohammad Arif, the North Smithfield physician and native of Pakistan who helped establish the Masjid al-Islam, said that as with other Americans, he grieves for the loss of life, on both sides, in Iraq and elsewhere.
"The world is in turmoil, and once the bloodshed starts, each side is killing the other. All we just want is peace and quiet, and happiness for everybody," he said.
Asaf Ashraf, 69, of South Kingstown, a quality-control specialist originally from India, said that in addition to praying for health for his family, his main wish is that there be peace in the world.
The attacks on innocent people, Muslim and non-Muslim, by various extremists are against any teaching in Islam, said Ashraf, who said he has no quarrel with the decision of the United States to go into Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein.
"To get rid of a tyrant is always the right thing," he said.
Zawia, a URI professor in addition to serving on the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement, said he, too, is glad that Saddam Hussein was deposed, but he is inclined to think there could have been another way.
"My prayer is for unity and for peace and reconciliation among faiths and populations," he said. "I think our biggest problem is that we have fringes in the Muslim world that have animosity toward the United States, and fringes in the United States that have animosity toward the Muslim world.
"These fringes, which are minorities, are stealing the agenda and leading a clash between the two groups, when there is really no need for that to happen," Zawia said.