Muslims Celebrate End of Monthlong Sacrifice

Ramadan’s month of fasting left 67-year-old Mohammed Nadery tired and a little weak. But on Wednesday, the Afghan native and North Hills resident was grateful to have made it through another year.

He and hundreds of other Muslims gathered at the Odyssey restaurant for Eid al-Fitr, which marks an end to the month of reflection and fasting commemorating the prophet Mohammed’s revelations in the Koran, Islam’s holy book.

“Thanks to God,” Nadery said, “that he has given us all this opportunity.”

For adults, Eid al-Fitr is a celebration of the end to Ramadan’s rituals of self-cleansing, including dawn-to-dusk prohibitions on food, drink and sexual relations throughout the month.

“Today is the day you celebrate the expulsion of the big devil within your body,” said Abdul Nasir Arghandehwal of Woodland Hills. “It gives you the feeling that for one month of struggle, you have accomplished what God told you to do.”

For children, Eid al-Fitr means staying awake the night before in anticipation of the gifts they will receive.

“As kids, this was the day we were looking forward to because of the gifts,” Nesar Ahmad Nasim, 24, said. “I used to make a lot of money, because I had a lot of uncles and aunts.”

Although Eid al-Fitr is traditionally a three-day observance, many Muslims in the U.S. cut the celebration to one day to square with Western business schedules. Some, like Santa Monica resident Muhammad Noori, have to trim it even more.

Noori, 35, happily mixed with family members at the crowded morning reception, where men hugged each other heartily, traditionally dressed young women posed for party photos and everyone enjoyed a bountiful supply of glazed doughnuts.

While others said they planned to spend the day visiting relatives and continuing the feast, Noori had to return to West L.A. to open his computer shop.

“Retail is always like that,” said Noori, whose black, double-breasted suit jacket covered an Eastern-style, knee-length smock.

The communal celebration, sponsored by the Islamic Center of Reseda, was one of many held Wednesday in the San Fernando Valley.

Siddiq Khan, a 20-year Valley resident, said that was not always the case. “When I first came here, there were very few Muslim people,” said the 46-year-old native of India. “We used to go downtown [for Eid al-Fitr]. But now there are about 10 mosques in the area.”

Edris Khestoo, a UCLA student from Reseda, said the month of fasting allows him to better understand Islam’s insistence that Muslims help the less fortunate.

“To me, [Ramadan] means that during the month I remember what the starving and poor are going through,” he said. “It’s what every practicing Muslim has to go through.”