Muslims in Bed-Stuy Celebrate Ramadan

Beginning today, August 1, thousands of Muslims in Bed-Stuy will sustain up to 16 hours without food and water for an entire month, in observance of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of spiritual introspection.

Considered to be the most scared of Muslim holidays, Ramadan takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, believed to be the month in which the Qur'an (the Muslims’ holy scripture) began to be revealed to Muhammad (the final Prophet of Allah).

“Ramadan to the Islamic community is very important to us because it is a commandment from Allah, the creator of the heavens and the earths,” said Tariq Dawan, an imam at the Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah mosque in Bed-Stuy. “He said all you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you today as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may learn self-restraint.”

Fasting is practiced only by those Muslims who are healthy and have reached puberty. An estimated 800,000 Muslims in New York City, many of them in Brooklyn will wake up well before sunrise to eat a small meal  before the fast begins.

The daily routine includes special Ramadan prayers and Qur’an recitations at night lasting from 9:30pm to 11:30pm, which leaves little time for sleeping.

Since Ramadan is a lunar month, it begins about eleven days earlier each year. During a Muslim’s lifetime, Ramadan will fall both during winter months, when the days are shorter, and summer months when they’re longer.

While the lack of sleep can be challenging, the most difficult test for practicing Muslims during Ramadan is often thirst said Yusuf Abdul Ahad, a Muslim for more than three decades and member of the well-known Masjid At-Taqwa mosque on Bedford and Fulton Street.

“We have to make sure we get enough to drink in the morning because one of the things we found in fasting, especially during this hot weather is that thirst is a bigger challenge than hunger,” said Ahad. “I have fasted in all the four seasons of the year and certainly summer is more [challenging], as from daybreak to sunset the days are longer. So we’re talking about a 16-hour fast, whereas in the wintertime you’re talking about a 12 hour fast.”

The well-known Masjid At-Taqwa mosque is one of 27 mosque’s located in Brooklyn and has been around for 30 years now. During Ramadan, the mosque draws over 3,000 worshippers for evening prayers alone.

Besides fasting, Muslims will commit to extra prayers, abstaining from intimate relations with their spouses and reading of the entire Qur’an. Also, they are encouraged to focus on self reformation and to slow down from engaging in worldly affairs. Spiritual cleansing and enlightenment, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others also are imperatives.

Over the next month, Muslims also will participate in the night of the Laylat al-Qadr (the "Night of Decrees") that represents when the Quran's first verse was revealed, as well as the holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (the Festival of Breaking the Fast) which marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month.

“For us as Muslims, Ramadan is really a very happy time of the year,” said Ahad, who can often be seen walking the streets of Bed-Stuy inviting residents to stop by the At-Taqwa mosque and learn more about Islam.

“It is not a time you’re going to see Muslims walking around with long faces; it’s a time of celebration," said Ahad. "This fast has been commended by Allah for reasons best known to him. We accept it. We perform the fast. And really, for some people, this the happiest time of the year.”