BLACKSBURG - Having fasted during the day for almost a month, worshippers arrived early Saturday at the Islamic Center of Blacksburg.
They came to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a festivity that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Muslims use a lunar calendar, and the end of Ramadan - a month of fasting, prayer and reflection - had come with the new moon. The men, some of whom brought their sons, came into the mosque, which is housed inconspicuously in an office park, through the front door. They took off their shoes, as is customary, and entered a room where a guest speaker, Houcine Chouat, repeatedly intoned "God is the greatest" in Arabic. They knelt down in prayer.
"It's a month of grace and blessings," Halide Salam said of Ramadan. She is an artist who teaches at Radford University and comes from Bangladesh. "It's a month of purification of your spirit."
She likened Ramadan to rituals of purification and reflection in other Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity and Judaism.
The women and children, meanwhile, came in the back door. The women's heads were covered, and most wore long robes. They toted crockpots, shopping bags of goodies, and in many cases their small children. They greeted one another with kisses on one cheek, then the other, and sometimes back again.
Throughout the celebration, the women mostly remained in the small room they had initially entered. Several occasionally chased their children into one of two rooms that separated the men from the women.
Worshippers at the mosque hail from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries, said Sedki Riad, director of the Islamic Center of Blacksburg. Many of the men who worship at the mosque are graduate students at Virginia Tech.
One woman, who declined to give her name, said she and her husband had come from New Delhi to live in Blacksburg because their daughter was a graduate student at Tech.
Were it not for the scarves covering the women's heads and the copies of the Quran on the bookshelves, the decor of the mosque would have resembled any other unadorned church basement.
Some of the girls, even as young as 2, also wore head scarves. But others wore more typical Western clothing. One little girl wore a party dress with a black velvet bodice and gold satin skirt.
Randa Fouad, 33, strung up Christmas lights along the walls for the party to commemorate the end of Ramadan.
"It's something that we do for Allah," she said of Ramadan. "And Allah always rewards us for this."
As the prayers and speech on the tenets of Islam in the men's side of the mosque continued on in Arabic and English, most of the women in the small room knelt on prayer mats in the center of the room. They sat in front of a television mounted on the wall that showed the men praying in the other room.
At several points, the women rose and prayed along with the images on the television.
When the prayer ended, the women relaxed and went back to chattering with one another. But the women remained on their side of the mosque and the men on theirs. Both boys and girls ran between the rooms, however.
After the prayers, several women took off their head wraps. One woman who was pregnant took off her scarf and shook out her long, dark hair. Later, as she sat on a sofa, she pulled out a compact and touched up her eye shadow and lipstick. She declined to give her name and said she should not speak without her husband's permission.
The women blew up balloons and passed out party favors. The children received lollipops and small toys such as plastic trucks and fairy princess accessories.
Eventually, people on both sides of the mosque lined up to eat. The men remained on their side of the mosque with their own food, and the women on their side.
Both men and women dined on boiled eggs, hummus, pita bread, beans, dates and other delicacies, including packaged Danish pastries and croissants. The men sat together in several long rows as they ate and later chatted in small groups. Several also held their children who had wandered into the room.
On the women's side, a clown arrived. She led the children through magic tricks, a three-legged race and a relay.
Salam, the artist from Bangladesh, pointed out that when she celebrated Eid al-Fitr in her home country, the festivity focused more on spending time with family.
Referring to the toys, games and clown, Salam said, "This is a very American thing."pls edit, chif and store for sunday 11.14
this goes with jen's live story on the end of ramadanhandley read
edited by tomc--lynn chiffedWHAT IS
RAMADAN?
• Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim lunar year. It is also a religious observance and considered a time of worship and reflection.
• The Quran says Ramadan is the month God delivered a first revelation to the prophet Muhammad in A.D. 610.
• Because Ramadan is based on the cycle of the moon, it typically begins 11 days earlier each year and can take place during any season. The beginning of Ramadan is determined by the first appearance of the crescent moon.
• During Ramadan, pious Muslims fast from daybreak until sunset. They don't eat, drink, smoke or have sex during the day and pray often. At night, they break the fast with prayer and a meal. After the meal, some Muslims customarily visit with family and friends, then resume the fast the next day.
• Fasting during Ramadan is the fourth of the five pillars of Islam. The other pillars are professing faith in one God whose messenger is the prophet Muhammad, five daily prayers, charity, and making a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Muhammad in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
• Ramadan ends after the new moon with a celebration called Eid al-Fitr (eed al fitter), or the "Festival of Fast-Breaking." Eid, as it is commonly known, can be a three-day celebration.