Muslims Meet for Joyous End of Ramadan

About 3,000 Muslims from all over the Southland converged at Cal State Northridge for sunrise services Wednesday, cutting through traffic on their way to the 6:30 a.m. Eid prayers to commemorate the end of Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month.

The women wore their finest saris and African gowns while the men wore knee-length silk shirts known as kurtas. The teen-agers in the crowd were dressed in the hippest fashions. Small children dozed in their parents’ arms.

Although their native tongues may be Bengali, Farsi, English or Javanese, they greeted one another with Arabic phrases they share in common. “Eid Mubarak,” they said, a traditional greeting of congratulations on ending a month of fasting and self-reflection.

“This is our biggest celebration of the year,” said Bibi Fazela of North Hills. “We have fasted all month and we have looked forward to it. We’re just happy to be alive for it. Who knows if we will be here next year?”

Ramadan, which began Feb. 22, marks the period when the Koran is believed to have been revealed to the prophet Mohammed. For Muslims worldwide, it is a time for intense devotion and to refrain not only from food and drink during daylight, but bad deeds and thoughts as well.

“The purpose of the fasting is to teach patience and self-control. It brings out the human in you,” said Ahmed El-Gabalawy, who organized the service. “When the fasting is over, we have a big celebration.”

It was the fourth year the event has been held at CSUN. Worshipers came from four Islamic centers in the San Fernando Valley, said El-Gabalawy, director of the Islamic Center of Northridge. People also came from the Antelope, Santa Clarita and Conejo valleys, he said.

Several thousand Muslims also gathered at the Islamic Center of Southern California near Koreatown, a former insurance building on Vermont Avenue that is now the largest mosque in Southern California.

“We consider this month a crash course and it should reflect in our behavior throughout the year--throughout our life, if possible,” said Dr. Maher Hathout, the Islamic center’s chairman. “You charge your batteries during Ramadan to drive around the rest of the year.”

This was Barbara Martinez’s first year fasting. She said that although she is proud to have made it through the month, now that it is over she misses the inner calm that comes with fasting. “When you fast, you don’t fuss, you don’t argue,” Martinez said, a sheer, black scarf draped around her head. “Before, I used to argue, you know, get attitude.”

For many of the estimated 250,000 Muslims in Southern California, Eid is a day of feasting, spending time with family and friends, visiting the sick and offering zakat --donations to the poor that one Muslim leader refers to as a “divine income tax” paid by every Muslim at the end of the holy month.

Muslims in the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire are scheduled to hold Eid prayers at the Pomona Fairgrounds today.