October 2007 Archives

It feels strange holding a cup of coffee in my hand today, just like it felt strange eating pizza for lunch over the weekend. Everything looks normal, but deep down I know it is not. I have just spent a month refraining from food and drink and trying constantly to keep God in my mind, and I am still in that mindset.

But how long will this last before I fade back into my old routines, where the responsibilities of daily life overwhelm that call from the Divine in the background?

As I've shared with you this month, Ramadan has many facets that help to enrich the lives of Muslims -- spiritual, social, charitable, and physical. The great struggle post-Ramadan is figuring out how to extend those benefits through until the next Ramadan. There's no one, universal way to do it. Each person needs to come to their own conclusion as to what works best for them. That is my task for the weeks ahead.

I hope that readers now get a sense of what Ramadan means for Muslims, and I encourage those of other faiths to borrow liberally from our traditions in ways that you feel might strengthen your own faith. I especially recommend looking back into your own fasting traditions -- nearly every religion has one -- and explore ways you can enrich your life with that. The framework of fasting is, I believe, an effective counterbalance to a modern society that is too often based on self-indulgence.

Why is it that Eid is a three-day affair? Perhaps it is because Muslims (despite their best efforts) end up celebrating it on different days. For those Muslims who follow the lead of Saudi Arabia (as some of the more conservative mosques do), the Eid celebration is today. However, for most Muslims in America who follow either the calculation or the moon sighting methods, Eid is tomorrow, on Saturday. A weekend Eid is something special -- we don't have to take time out of work or pull our kids out of school for the day -- and I intend to make the most of it.

If you're not used to seeing Muslims, Eid is the day where you are most likely to see groups of them. Unfortunately (and we're working on this), it will probably be because the parking situation around the location of Eid prayer is horrific, or because all the cabs seem to have disappeared off the streets. With the Muslim population in America growing as fast as it is, the average mosque is not big enough to accommodate all the worshippers, so larger venues are booked, often with many local mosque communities joining forces.

I've been to Eid services in convention centers, football and basketball stadiums, concert halls, and large city parks. Despite the larger size of the venue, multiple prayers (usually at 8 am and 10 am) are needed. Even in small towns, thousands of Muslims show up, because many otherwise non-observant Muslims show up for Eid. Here in Austin, we expect around 10,000 worshippers, and I've been to prayers in larger cities where the numbers approach 75,000. You'll probably see footage of your local Eid celebrations on the evening news.

As the fading crescent moon can attest to, the month of Ramadan is coming to a close. All around the world, readings of the Qur'an that started on the first page 30 days ago are reaching their conclusions. The long nights in the mosque over the last 10 days, in eager search of the Night of Power, have left many exhausted yet spiritually alive. For me, this month has been a time to look carefully at my life as a Muslim in America.

Is my life being lived in accordance to the principles of my religion? Is there anything I have done in the past for which I need to seek forgiveness? Are the big decisions I am making in my life ones that will keep me on the the straight path, and keep me from wronging others? These questions have kept me up at night for the last month, as I ask God for guidance in the coming year.

But in addition to recommitting oneself to the principles of my religion, Ramadan has also been a time for reinforcing social bonds, both within the Muslim American community and between Muslims and other Americans. As Muslim American institutions -- mosques, schools, community centers, and media -- continue to grow, the resources available to Muslims celebrating Ramadan increase. And as awareness of Ramadan increases among the American population at large, opportunities for interfaith understanding and shared celebration present themselves. One need only look up at the Empire State Building -- clad in green over the coming weekend in commemoration of the end of Ramadan -- to see how far we've come, despite the challenges of living in a post-9/11 America.

One of the unique pleasures of Ramadan is the tradition of specially prepared Ramadan sweets that originate from a host of different cultures and nationalities across the Muslim world. These Ramadan sweets and pastries help create a festive mood around the iftar table, and the best thing about Ramadan in America is that we get to sample them all. Just as the Muslim American community is a melting pot of diverse cultures, our Ramadan plates are adorned with treats from every corner of the Muslim world.

My parents immigrated from South Asia, so our house was filled with Ramadan treats from their homeland - seviyan (roasted noodles served in a sugary, milky sauce), fruit chaat (cut up fruits served with masala spices & black pepper), and of course, Rooh Afza (a sweet, rose-flavored milk drink).

But the mosque I attended while growing up was very multicultural, so I got a chance to experience the Ramadan treats of the parents of many of my friends. Kunafa (shredded, sweetened phyllo dough) from Syria, katayef (kind of like a fried sweet pancake) and umm ali (a decadent bread pudding) from Egypt, raisin cookies from Iran, and güllaç (phyllo again, with pomegranates and walnuts) from Turkey. There are tenuous cultural links between all of these desserts, but they each retain a cultural uniqueness that all can appreciate.

Now that Ramadan is slowly drawing to a close, take a few moments to think about the ones not fasting -- the little ones who sneak a date from the iftar table at sunset while everyone is frantically getting ready to eat, the ones who are usually asleep in the morning while the adults wake up to eat their pre-dawn meal and pray, the ones that unintentionally taunt the fasting grownups with ice cream cones and juice drinks. That's right - what about the children?

For much of the month, children are merely bystanders, exempt from the fasting until they reach puberty and, perhaps, many of the optional prayers (though they are encouraged to learn). But kids are kids, they see how religious festivals and holidays in other religions often emphasize the "fun stuff" - the Christmas trees and presents, the Hanukkah dreidels and songs, the colorful dances of Holi.

But Ramadan does have its share of "fun stuff" too, centered around the 3 day holiday of Eid, expected in a few days time. Eid in a predominantly Muslim country is as colorful and vibrant as the Christmas season is here in America. Over here, we're still working on ways to create a similar atmosphere for Muslim Americans and their children -- and we're not quite there yet.

Each morning during Ramadan is the suhoor (the pre-dawn meal), the private antithesis to the usually congregational and public iftar at the end of the day.  It is the fasting...

I've often struggled with the question of how best to share my faith with those who are not Muslim.  While I have spent many years being involved in interfaith work,...

One of the restrictions during Ramadan, aside from the obvious food/drink/sexual relations, is smoking. And one of the saddest things I have seen in my life is the group of...

With Eid-ul-Fitr -- the three-day holiday signifying the end of Ramadan -- approaching soon, many Muslims are getting ready to send Eid greeting cards to their friends and family. And...

Muslims have spent two-thirds of the month of Ramadan in physical restraint and silent contemplation, and it is in the last third - the last ten days of Ramadan -...

One of the best things about Ramadan in America is that it is still under-the-radar. After all, it doesn't take long for entrepreneurs to realize the commercial potential around religious...