Delmarva Muslims look forward to Ramadan, prepare for a month of devotion and reflection

SALISBURY, Md. – Sunday is the first day of Ramadan and many Muslims fast for the whole month.

Delmarva Muslim Community Imam, Habiburrehman Haji, said to each Muslim, Ramadan is a personal journey.

“This month is really important because it really nurturers that feeling. It really helps us grow that sense, and that’s the essence of fasting,” Haji said.

That feeling is a sense of community and devotion, as Haji, as described it. For the next 30 days, he will be leading people in his community through one of the five main practices of Islam: Fasting.

“It’s a very blessed month, a very holy month, the rewards for our good deeds are multiplied in great numbers,” Haji said. “It’s a month for reflection; it brings a lot of things into perspective for us.”

From sunrise to sunset, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking. It’s an act that Haji said takes a lot of discipline, yet Muslims around the world feel a duty to partake in every year, to help them grow within their religion.

“Think about this: just the belief in the unseen, the belief in a God is enough to encourage billions of people around the world to stop eating,” Haji said.

From all over the world, to right on the Shore, community outreach coordinator, Farah Yahya, said for her, Ramadan is a special time of the year because the Muslim community shows up for one another, to keep their traditions alive.

‘We have Muslims from close to 13 different countries, so a lot of the times when we have gatherings and I look around I thank Allah,” Yahya said. “I’m from Pakistan and living in Pakistan, I would never have met anybody who is coming from all these countries, and they all bring beautiful things from their culture.”

And while they all may practice a little differently, something they all have in common is a desire to teach anyone curious about what makes their culture, something they strive to preserve.

“In this day in age, there’s lots of misinformation. There’s lots of misconceptions, a lot of ideas are being pushed,” Haji said. “You see us everywhere; just come and ask us, it’s that simple. Just come and ask us and we’ll have a conversation.”