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By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

It is hard to find anything close to reliable numbers as to how many Grand Rapids area persons of the Muslim faith will be celebrating the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan just after sunset on Thursday.

But after being invited into, and sitting quietly through, a mid-day Ramadan prayer and service June 8 at Kentwood’s At-Tawheed Islamic Center and masjid (mosque), with an estimated 500 male and 200 female worshipers of all ages, the community’s quiet local presence is undeniable.

Further consider that the Kentwood masjid also hosted evening daily Ramadan prayers with as many and often more worshipers, and consider At-Tawheed is only one of at least five Muslim religious centers in the Greater Grand Rapids area serving congregations representing dozens of national and ethnic backgrounds ranging from Egyptian to Kashmirian to Bosnian to Somalian.

All Muslims, however, recognize Ramadan; it is, after all, a commandment of God.

“During the days of Ramadan, from sunrise until sunset time, it is not allowed for them to eat or drink or have relations with their spouses,” Imam Morsy Salem, of the At-Tawheed Islamic Center, said to WKTV. “Our intention is to ask ourselves ‘Are we really willing to get closer to God?’ When we do fast, it is because it is good for our souls.”

Imam Morsy is of Egyptian origin but he proudly says his congregation has more the 35 national and ethnic backgrounds — not surprising give the fact that, according to a 2015 study, adherents of the religion of Islam are the world’s second largest religious group with about 1.8 billion followers, making up about 24 percent of the world’s population. And the followers spread around the world, with the largest Muslim country not being in the Middle East, as many think, but being Indonesia.

The U.S. Census Bureau does not collect religious background data, but looking at the numbers available, the latest Census estimates place the greater Grand Rapids total population at just under 1 million, while a recent study by a group called Muslims for American Progress estimates that 1 percent of the population of the United States is Muslim and about 2.75 percent of Michigan’s population is Muslim. Two other studies place the West Michigan Muslim population at about 1.5 percent, or about 8,000-to-9,000.

Local events planned for end of Ramadan

Whatever the actual local community numbers, a Ramadan prayer event planned at East Kentwood High School’s gym on Friday is expected to draw as many as 5,000 worshipers, according to event organizers.

Then, in the evening, local muslim communities will be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, which, depending on who you ask, translates from Arabic as “the breaking of the fast” or “the feast of the breaking of the fast.” The celebrations will be family and community gatherings, some modest and some more grand.

This year, Ramadan began on or around May 16, with its ending, Eid-ul-Fitr, falling on or around June 15. (The Islamic calendar is based on a lunar cycle, so dates are subject to the sighting of the moon and change slightly each year.)

The East Kentwood gathering, and other Muslim community events, will be part of a celebration as Ramadan draws to a close after a month of fasting during the long days, light meals after sunset, and daily religious personal introspection and formal Islamic instruction focused on readings from The Qur’an Islamic holy book as well as imam instruction.

Islam and The Qur’an 

Ramadan, in short, is a way for Muslims to become closer to God — which they call “Allah” but which is the same God as in Jewish and Christian beliefs. Muslims accept the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospels as the word of God, but believe that they are incomplete without The Qur’an. They also believe that Islamic prophet Mohammad is the final in a series of God’s prophets which include Adam, David and Jesus Christ — “Peace be upon them,” Muslims will often recite when mentioning their names.

And Ramadan is one of the most unique aspects of Islam.

“The purpose (of Ramadan) is because a person becomes more righteous, truthful and mindful of God,” Dr. Sahibzada, the director of the Islamic Center of West Michigan and Imam of the center’s masjid, said to WKTV. “When we are fasting, were are listening to the commandment of God — spiritually, materially, bodily, perception. Everything is attached to God. … We have to be close to God. We have to submit to the will of God.”

Dr. Sahibzada, who arrived in Grand Rapids in 2001 — just months before the September 2001 attacks on American — is of Kashmirian background (Kashmir being a region north of India divided and governed by India, Pakistan and China), but he points out that being the first Islamic center in West Michigan, dating from 1985, his congregation has varied over the years as new Muslim communities arrive and, sometimes, form their own masjids.

In addition to the Islamic Center of West Michigan on Burton Street and the At-Tawheed Islamic Center on East Paris Avenue, Dr. Sahibzada pointed out that there is also a Bosnian Cultural Center on Eastern Avenue in Grand Rapids, another Bosnian Muslim community center in Kentwood, also on East Paris and not far from At-Tawheed, and a Somalian Muslim center on Eastern Avenue.

Ramadan is regarded as the holiest month of the year for Muslims as it was the month in which The Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Mohammad on the night of Laylat Al Qadr, one of the last ten nights of Ramadan. The annual observance of Ramadan is considered one of the “Five Pillars of Islam”.

Who fasts, who does not

While all devout adult Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk every day throughout Ramadan — which in Grand Rapids is almost 16 hours this year. Those who are ill, elderly, diabetic, pregnant, menstruating, or breast-feeding are not required to fast. Also, those who are “on journey” — on travel or at taxing daytime work — during the period of Ramadan may fast on different days at a later point. Children are not required to fast until they have reached puberty, although many still do out of choice.

“Fasting is only for those who are healthy,” Dr. Sahibzada said. “Those who can afford it, those who can do it. Even if you are healthy, if you can do it, but you are on a journey, you are allowed to not fast. God is merciful.”

Fasting means more than simply food, beverage and smoking, Muslims also refrain from sexual relations as well as “sinful speech and behavior”.

During Ramadan, many Muslims pray every night, ofter reciting or being read different chapters each day until The The Qur’an is completed.