Muslims End Observance of Ramadan

For the first time, joining the adults in his family, 11-year-old Samy Owaynat of Irvine fasted sunrise to sundown for the month of Ramadan, Islam’s holiest observance.

“The first two or three days it was hard, and I got real hungry, but doing it really brings you closer to God,” he said. “I learned to give my heart to the poor and to treat other people the way I want to be treated.”

Thursday morning, Samy was one of thousands of Muslims who gathered inside a hangar at the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station for the Eid al-Fitr, a ceremony marking Ramadan’s completion.

Families and friends--men in the front and women in the back--prayed together, kneeling and rising to an imam’s words.

During Ramadan, which began Dec. 31, Muslims not only fast for about 10 hours each day, but they abstain from sex, tobacco and other sensual pleasures until sundown.

By controlling their desires, Muslims seek to intensify their faith in God and their sense of compassion. The rich know hunger, and the poor receive greater charity from those seeking to earn favor by good deeds. Grudges are to be forgotten, and Muslims believe God rewards good deeds more greatly during this time than at any other.

After the service, solemn prayers gave way to joyful hugs and greetings of “Eid Mubarak”-- “Holiday blessings to you”--and other words of goodwill.

As Elmahdi Habiballa, 30, a native of Sudan, hugged Mashal Al Mutiri, 24, a native of Saudi Arabia, he pointed out the myriad nationalities and ethnicities that the religion unifies.

“This is the beauty of Islam. There’s no discrimination,” Habiballa said. “We share one God and one faith and that’s what matters.”

Like moving bouquets, teenage girls in bright silk outfits swirled through the aisles, hugging and admiring each others’ colorful clothing.

Fasting while going to school, some said, was often difficult. “At lunchtime, we just would watch the other kids eating,” said Sana Siddiqui, 15, of Santa Ana.

“But it shows you how poor people really feel because when we’re so hungry at lunch, at least we’re looking forward to food later on,” Siddiqui said.

“They don’t even have that to look forward to.”

Subhan Ali, 12, said he is stronger for having fasted, and thinks that people who know that he and other Muslims fast during Ramadan will respect them.

“I think that for people who are not Muslims, because of terrorists in Palestine, they may not know what we’re really like,” he said. “But when you fast, then they see you as a good person.”