Detroit Muslims begin month-long fasting period of Ramadan

July 20, 2012 at 1:00 am

Detroit Muslims begin month-long fasting period of Ramadan

  • By Oralandar Brand-Williams
  • The Detroit News

Detroit—Local Muslims will begin the month-long observance of the Muslim holy period of Ramadan today.

It is marked by 30 days of fasting, dawn to dusk, and daily prayers. Muslims also refrain from sex, smoking, drinking and other excessive activities.

“The vast majority of mosques in Metro Detroit will start fasting (today) while some will start on Saturday,” said Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Michigan. “This is a yearly issue pertaining to a difference of opinion on if the crescent moon should be sighted anywhere in the world or if it has to be sighted in one’s own country or hemisphere. For instance, Saudi Arabia and UAE declared that Ramadan starts on Friday; however, their neighbor Oman will start on Saturday.”

In the past few years, Ramadan has been observed during summer. In Metro Detroit, Muslims have been faced with hot and humid weather.

“These are the longest and hottest days for those of us in the faith who fast during Ramadan,” said Walid, who noted that keeping hydrated is key and also balancing the intake of food during the iftar, the evening meal when the fast is broken for the day during Ramadan.

He said those with illnesses can be exempted from fasting or can fast at a later time. Some mosques will allow people who are not physically able to fast, such as those who are diabetic, to donate money to a local soup kitchen to feed a hungry person for a month in place for fasting.

It is also a time of worship and reflection, as well as a time of strengthening family ties and community.

Imam Abdullah El-Amin of the Muslim Center in Detroit urges Muslims to make sure they are well-nourished by making sure they don’t skip the pre-dawn meal, called the suhoor, and drinking plenty of water before the daily fast begins.

“We go from 4 a.m. to 9 at night without any food or water,” he said. “Therefore, we have to have some real spiritual connection to make it easier.”

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120720/METRO/207200348#ixzz21A14HcoP

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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