Mosque-Goers in Virginia Bring Home-Cooked Food for Iftar
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tasnim) – Muslim Americans residing in the city of Manassas, Virginia, attend nightly events in the Manassas Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, taking homemade food to the mosque to serve Iftar (breaking of fast) meal to their fellow Muslims.
Manassas Muslims converge on the mosque every evening to recite the Quran together, say prayers in congregation and attend the Iftar ceremony to break their fast.
At the nightly events, participants bring food with themselves for Iftar to share it with the others.
Moreover, an Iranian cleric from the holy city of Qom, named Ahmad Nabizadeh, has travelled to Manassas at the invitation of the mosque, to lead the prayers and provide the young mosque-goers with an exegesis of Quran in English.
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, marks the most special of all occasions. It is a celebration of the descent of the Word of God, the Quran, from Heaven to the earth.
Muslims all over the world fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. Abstaining from food and drink, and from other bodily pleasures, is a crucial element of the observation. To partake in the blessings of Ramadan, able-bodied women and men, also girls and boys who have reached the age of religious observance, are required to fast for the duration of this month.
At the end of each fasting day, Muslims break their fast with an Iftar meal.
Ramadan is more than abstinence from food and drink during the hours of daylight. It is a time for contemplation, devotion and remembrance of God, especially through the reading or recitation of the Quran.
Tending to the welfare of the less fortunate members of the community, giving to the poor -especially at the end of the month- is also important.
Intensive self-reflection and increased God-consciousness during the month of Ramadan is meant to subdue and suppress familiar misdeeds, such as backbiting, holding grudges and telling lies.