Since the month of Ramadan began on the evening of Feb. 17, the days have moved quickly as Muslims around the world enter the second half of a month anchored in fasting and emotional discipline.
This year, for most of Ramadan, the sun sets around 6 p.m. The daily fast is broken shortly thereafter, when many are done with work and school for the day. Iftar meals are held, with Taraweh prayers shortly after.
Taraweh is a set of voluntary prayers that take place after the last of the five daily prayers only in the month of Ramadan. Prayed in congregation, it is an important part of Ramadan’s communal aspect that many Muslims look forward to.
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Ramadan is Coon Rapids resident Karimah Shabazz’s favorite time of the year.
“Ramadan is a time for total full-spectrum wellness — physically, spiritually, mentally, socially — which is one of the reasons why I look forward to Ramadan,” she said. “By the end of Ramadan, we’re celebrating Eid, and it feels like I’ve been through a beautiful experience. I love it; my family loves it.”
Shabazz, originally from Ohio, moved to Minnesota with her husband, Haroon Abdullah, eight years ago. Haroon grew up in Minnesota. In Minnesota, they asked around to find a mosque that would feel like home. Shabazz’s mother-in-law, though not Muslim herself, suggested they attend a mosque in north Minneapolis that she knew about simply based on its towering blue and white minaret — Masjid An-Nur.
Shabazz immediately felt at home there, where the community reminded her of the one she’d left in Cleveland.
Shabazz and Abdullah have four daughters who are 3, 8, 16 and 19. This Ramadan will be the family’s first without their eldest daughter, who is attending college in Washington, D.C.
Masjid An-Nur plays a significant role in the family’s Ramadan. The historic mosque is home to a large African American Muslim community and has a reputation for robust community service. Like other mosques that are home to specific cultural and ethnic groups, Masjid An-Nur cultivated an environment led by and intentionally inclusive of the African American community, mindfully incorporating the culture and language of the community into all aspects of the community life at the mosque
A book club, youth classes and programming, and volunteering are some of the activities that keep the family engaged in the community around Masjid An-Nur throughout the year. Throughout Ramadan, the family volunteers to cook and serve iftar meals at the mosque, which are offered to the public Monday through Thursday.
Shabazz says the community engagement opportunities at Masjid An-Nur show her children that “being charitable and serving your community is a normal part of life.”
Ramadan-themed decorations, watching Ramadan-centered lectures and series during suhoor (the pre-dawn meal) and iftar, attending Taraweh prayers at Masjid An-Nur, and supporting restaurants that offer halal foods all add to the sweetness of the month for the household.
“We like to eat out at different halal restaurants,” Shabazz said, including bb.q Chicken, a Korean barbecue chain that serves halal chicken.
“They even have a prayer space,” Shabazz said. “The owner, she’s Korean, she’s not Muslim, but she’s so kind to make accommodations for us. We really like to patronize restaurants and businesses that cater to the needs of Muslims and make Muslims feel like they care about our presence there.”
Her family also looks forward to attending iftars around the Twin Cities, especially those that support charitable causes.
“A big component of Ramadan for us is community, seeing friends that you don’t normally get to see regularly, and having fellowship with your community — that’s one of the highlights for us,” she said. “We are a social family — although I love to stay home, we do like to be around our community and be present. It feels wonderful, breaking bread with people that you love and meeting new people.”
The recent unprecedented presence of ICE in Minnesota, which has included controversial, violent, and sometimes illegal tactics by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents, had a particularly frightening impact on certain diaspora groups that are also largely Muslim. Shabazz said that part of this year’s Ramadan experience has been continuing to support friends still being impacted by ICE.
“ICE’s presence is still very palpable throughout the city,” Shabazz said. “When members of my community are hurting, then I’m hurting. Many people that I know and care about do feel threatened, and that makes me want to do my part to help them cope with this situation. There’s been so many organizations that have stepped up, which makes it easy for someone like me who wants to help, wants to do something, because you don’t have to look very far.”
As she nears a decade living in Minnesota, a move she was initially nervous about, Shabazz, whose first name means “generous,” says her faith is the foundation of her civic and social activism.
“The Muslim community here in Minnesota has been very friendly, warm and welcoming and active; there is always something to do,” she said. “There is always a place that can utilize your help, your presence. It’s allowed me to really plant roots here.
“The funny thing is, I did not want to move to Minnesota,” Shabazz said. She told her husband, Haroon, she would give it one year.
“Here I am, eight years later,” she said. “He [Haroon] was right. Minnesota turned out to be a great place to live and a great place to raise Muslim children. My kids have been able to find community and spaces that offer them friendship, fun, activities — everything that a mother could want for her children.”
