Local Muslims celebrate Islam's holiest month

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Muslims across Nassau County are joining together to observe Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam, which began mid-June. And while the major rituals of Ramadan involve fasting from sunrise to sunset — as a means of inner reflection and self-control — and donating to charity, local Islamic leaders said they are also using the time to promote interfaith awareness and unity in light of hate crimes that have taken place across the world in recent months.

One of the five pillars of Islam, Ramadan takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; June 18 to July 17 this year. It commemorates the revealing of the Quran — the religion’s holiest scripture — to the prophet Muhammad.

“For one month, we can purify ourselves,” said Hamadullah Kamal, the imam, or spiritual leader, of the Long Island Muslim Society in East Meadow.

Kamal pointed to a passage of the Quran — Chapter 2, Verse 183 — that describes the meaning of Ramadan. It translates to, “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious.”

But the purpose of fasting is about more than simply abstinence, explained Isma Chaudhry, the first female president of the Islamic Center of Long Island, in Westbury. “It’s to have a reality check on the abundance that we enjoy,” she said, “and to be very conscious of the people around the world who are less fortunate.”

Being hungry, Chaudhry explained, is meant to be a humbling experience. “It helps one ground oneself,” she said, “and bring your faculties to a center of being conscious of the other existence.”

Another pillar of Islam calls for the donation of 2.5 percent of your wealth to charity over your lifetime. Many Muslims focus their charitable efforts during Ramadan, said Chaudhry, adding that their philanthropy is not just directed toward other Muslim organizations. She said the Islamic Center has had a longstanding relationship with The Interfaith Nutrition Network, in Hempstead.

Zahid Syed, the chairman of the Nassau County Human Rights Commission, and who is Muslim, said he has noticed a celebratory mood throughout Muslim communities during the nightly Iftar — the breaking of the day’s fast. “The community is growing more and more, and it’s like more and more celebrations,” said Syed, adding that more Muslims are moving from Brooklyn and Queens to Long Island.

The Islamic leaders agreed that Ramadan has taken on extra meaning this year because of recent hate crimes nationally and internationally. Both the LIMS and the ICLI planned interfaith services during Ramadan — The LIMS held its on June 22, as dozens of youths of different faiths joined together to discuss various religions and cultures, and the ICLI was scheduled to host a gathering on July 2. “If there was ever a need of getting to know the other, it’s now,” Chaudhry said. “It’s very important for us to get to know each other’s traditions, so we are familiar. It’s not the fear of the unknown.”

Chaudhry noted the strong interfaith community that exists in Nassau County, and how clergy of different faiths often come together in times of need. “I think Long Island can serve as a model,” she said. “Not just for the U.S., but for the world.”

Indeed, on June 30, a prayer gathering was scheduled to occur at the front steps of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive Building, in Mineola, in remembrance of the nine victims of the racially motivated Charleston church shooting in South Carolina on June 17. “We are always coming together and supporting each other,” said Syed, “and saying, ‘OK, we don’t have these things in our community. We stand with you, and we are brothers and sisters, and we will work together.’”