‘Allahu Akbar’: Valley Muslims rejoice in Ramadan’s spiritual uplifting
HARLINGEN — The silence of reverence and reflection made the calling of the prayer even more powerful as the Muslim brothers kneeled in devotion.
The Muslim brothers had come to the Islamic Center of Harlingen to break the fast on the first day of Ramadan with a meal called “iftar” and afterward the muezzin had called them to pray.
The appearance of the crescent moon of the previous night had determined the month of Ramadan, a hallowed time in the Islamic faith, would begin March 1.
Ramadan is a time of reflection, charity and hope. The abstaining from food and water from sunup to sundown is an act of faith that helps focus the mind on devotion and charity and obedience to Allah, the Arabic word for God.
“Ramadan is like renewing your faith,” said Karim Myers, a native of Ghana in West Africa who has lived in Harlingen for 14 years.
It was the second Saturday of the breaking of the fast.
“It’s a month of reading the Quran, giving to charity,” he said as his two young sons dashed about the mosque at 601 Kamali Dr.
He and his sons and his Muslim brothers had already had their “iftar” at sunset and had also prayed the “maghrib” one of the five daily Islamic prayers.
“Allahu Akbar” said the imam.
“Allahu Akbar,”meaning God is the greatest, repeated the Muslim brothers four times.
The men wore loose-fitting gray “thobes” and hats and jeans, and they stood together facing the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The call to prayer and the prayer itself had a powerful musical quality to it, the way the lines of the music which carry the prayer rising and turning and descending, resembling the Arabic calligraphy on the walls of the mosque declaring the names of “Allah” and “Muhammad.”
There are five daily prayers beginning with “fajr” before sunrise and ending with the “isha.” In Ramadan, Muslims throughout the world enjoy the “iftar” meal after sunset.
A few days after the beginning of Ramadan, Dr. Ameer Hassan, his wife Summer and their children Amar, 13, and Yousef, 12, held a bountiful “iftar” at their home with friends and fellow Muslims. There was a joy of food — of kabsa and hummus and dates and pita bread — and the warmth of friendship and conversation.
Yousef, a sixth grader at St. Alban’s Episcopal Day School, said that during Ramadan he sits outside at lunch time and reads the Quran. He doesn’t read Arabic — he speaks it well — but he has translations that provide the understanding.
His mother Summer, who hails from the United Arab Emirates, emphasized that point.
“It’s understanding the meaning, not just the reading but the meaning,” she said. “So you are taking time to spiritually actually kind of studying it.”
There was a powerful energy to her moving and her serving of food and her gesturing to emphasize her discussions of Ramadan.
“That’s why there are 30 chapters, so you read a chapter a day,” she said. “You have to read it and understand.”
“It’s filled with fables and stories and laws,” said Ameer, a New Jersey native whose family originates from Egypt.
“The idea is that you understand that,” he said, “and you are refreshing your Islamic knowledge.”
During Ramadan, blessings for good deeds are greater than at other times of the year.
“Every word you read from the Holy Book on a regular day you get one point,” said Summer.
“During Ramadan, every letter is seventy,” she said. “So you can imagine we all try reading the Holy Book during Ramadan. This is an opportunity to collect all your good deeds.”
One of the invited guests at this “iftar” was Dr. Raza Khan, a native of Pakistan who grew up in the United States.
“There are a lot of rewards for the worship of Ramadan,” Khan said. “The intrinsic beauty of it is the communal, the gathering, the eating, and also the recitation of the Quran. When you recite the Quran, you’re supposed to do it melodically and beautifully.”
The Muslims in worship for Ramadan conveyed the same basic message, that there is so much more to the observance than the fasting.
“It’s a time of spiritual awareness, to get closer to the people, to my brothers and sisters in Islam, to give thanks to God for all the bounties he has given us, the blessings,” said Nuh Abdullah, 67.
He recently had a lung transplant so he can only fast a few hours a day, and Islam allows for those with health concerns to refrain from the full fast.
“Fasting, the first thing that affects you is hunger,” he said. “And you remember people who are going through things that worse than what we are. We learn not to take anything for granted.”
Howaida Vasquez said Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.
“The real meaning of the fast is to cleanse yourself, stay away from the bad habits, and appreciate what God gives you,” she said. “Ramadan is about family and neighbors getting together. It’s the month of giving and sharing.”
Muslim children are of course introduced to fasting over a period of time as they get older. Yousef began a full day of fasting at age 6 while in the UAE. All of his cousins were fasting, and he wanted to be a part of it.
The message of Islam and Ramadan seems to become clear to kids at an early age.
“Ramadan is when you connect with God and connect with people,” said Mohammad Al-Qudah, 12, a seventh grader at Horizon Montessori III. His family originates from Jordan.
“Fasting helps me prohibit and try and stop myself from doing bad,” he said. “If I do something bad on usual days, right now is a reminder not to do though the whole month in general.”
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