How San Diego Muslims are marking this Ramadan

S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show. Many Muslims across the world and in San Diego are observing. Ramadan will talk about the significance of reflecting on faith. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. For San Diego's Muslim community. Ramadan is a time to pray fast and reflect on one's faith. Here to talk more about the meaning behind Ramadan and how it's being honored locally is Imam Taha Hasan. He's the imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego. Imam Hasan , welcome back to the show.

S2: Thank you so much for having me.

S1: Glad to have you here.

S2: Fasting is something good that we enjoy doing.

S1: Yes , yes.

S2: Uh , it's time to , um , see where we are heading in our lives. It's time to strengthen our spiritual connection with our creator , and to be more beneficial for God's creation around us.

S1: And Ramadan is , you know , it's about showing your best self.

S2: So and this is basically one of the , one of the dimensions of fasting , which is the moral dimension. Prophet Muhammad , peace be upon him. When he congratulated his companions at the beginning of the month of Ramadan , he told them all. Lamine and Fusi come here to show God the best of who you are. Which means that during the month of Ramadan , when we are fasting , we have. We have to be careful. We have to watch every word we say. We have to watch every action we make. Because Ramadan is not basically about starving ourselves or depriving our body from food and water. It's about discipline. It's about showing how good we are , especially when we interact with people. So in a hadith , the Prophet Muhammad upon him said , whoever does not or cannot refrain from evil talk or evil action in Ramadan , then God doesn't need from this person to refrain from food and water , which means that our moral character should go align with the spiritual fasting that we are that we are doing. So in Ramadan , we try to be the best of who we are. We try to only say that is right and also do that which is righteous.

S1:

S2: Of course. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. You know , many families and many , you know , Muslim families across San Diego and around the world observe this holy month , remind us of the cultural significance of Ramadan.

S2: Oh , yes. Ramadan is a very special time , very special month or season for Muslims all over the world , including right here in San Diego. You know , the Muslim community in San Diego , uh , celebrate the month of Ramadan by doing a lot of acts of worship and by connecting with one another. So in every mosque here in San Diego , there is what we call iftar , which means breaking the fast at sunset time where community members and families come together and break their fast together. And in many occasions , we even invite our non-Muslim friends and neighbors to come and show up and enjoy the iftar with their Muslim neighbors. Um , kids would like to also decorate their homes , their classrooms , for example , uh , with items that that signify the month of Ramadan. So it's it's it's the whole environment that we try to create for our kids , for our families and our community members to feel that this is a special moment for all of us. During this month.

S1: You mentioned Community of Stars.

S2: And then after that , we engage in a lot of prayers almost , you know , an hour and a half , sometimes up to two hours of praying. So the Islamic Center and other other mosques around San Diego are packed every night during the month of Ramadan. A lot of people show up. A lot of people get engaged in spiritual , uh , actions , in prayers , in supplication and all that stuff. So this is the way we honor the month of Ramadan. Wow.

S1: Wow. You know , I mean , we've talked about fasting and how it's an integral part of Ramadan.

S2: And being an adult , uh , within the Islamic tradition is when when a boy or a girl reaches the age of puberty. Right. But we as when we were kids and even our children now , they try to fast before that age. They try to fast when they are six or 7 or 8 , nine years old. Not necessarily fasting the whole day , but sometimes just give up their breakfast or give up their lunch so they can fast half a day , quarter a day until they are. They are able to fast the whole day. So when we fast , you know , the whole day as kids , of course , our families celebrate that day. I mean celebration by having a special iftar at home with some gifts , you know , just to encourage us when we were children and our kids at this moment , to value and to give the importance to this ritual that is very important. And fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. So it's an obligation upon the Muslims. So kids can't wait to fast their specific first day in their lives to have this special celebration at home.

S1: And , you know , speaking of the children , you've worked with many young people over the years. In fact , you'll be speaking with students later today.

S2: Most of them , they go to school , whether high school or college or university. It's a little bit challenging for them , you know , to spend the whole day sometimes in the campus or , you know , going to classes and all that stuff. So when we when we talk to them , we kind of like encourage them. We , uh , try to help them understand the value of what what they are doing. They are sacrificing , you know , a lot of things in on their days , uh , just to please almighty God by , by doing that. So when we meet with them , we talk to them about the value of fasting. We remind them about the spiritual dimension of fasting , the moral and the social dimension of fasting , and help them to understand that what they are doing is something great , and they are doing it for God for the sake of God. And they will be rewarded for that. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. And I'm creating that awareness is is. I'm guessing the way that you really strike a balance between faith and daily life , right ? Yes.

S2: Of course. I mean , in Ramadan , we don't stop working , we don't stop going to school. So we keep our same schedule. Um , sometimes , you know , Muslims talk to their bosses and their supervisors , for example , to allow them , if they work the evening shift , you know , to give them time to break their fast. And nowadays , with a lot of awareness happening in our society , most of the people know about Ramadan and most of the companies or places of worship of work. They like to honor their Muslim employees , so they give them time to break their fasting , etc.. So yes , it is , it is a challenge. But I mean , this is the worship. This is how we struggle to keep ourselves always , you know , doing the right thing according to our faith tradition. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. Intentionality is important. How do you encourage people to be more intentional in their faith.

S2: Yeah , because fasting shouldn't be. Shouldn't become a habit. Like like something. Because I'm fasting. Because everybody at home is fasting or everybody in the community is fasting. So I have no other option. No. We fast because we mean , you know , we have the intention of fasting. We fast because we know the value of this ritual. We fast because it's an obligation that Almighty God , our creator , made it an obligation upon the people of faith. And , you know , fasting is not only for this nation of Muslims. You know , after the time of Prophet Muhammad , be upon him for the last 14 centuries. Fasting has been always part of the Abrahamic faiths , the monotheistic religions. It has been always part of Judaism and Christianity. So it's not like an exclusive thing that Muslims are doing. We are just doing something that existed before and all the prophets sent by God. They were asked also to fast , not necessarily like the way we fast nowadays in Ramadan , but fasting as a concept has been always part of the Abrahamic faiths. Wow.

S1: Wow. And Ramadan is also about giving back to the community.

S2: Actually , one of the dimensions of of fasting is the social dimension. In Ramadan we when , when when we stop eating and drinking , we remember those who are deprived , those who don't have anything to eat or drink. You know , all year round. So this makes us or give us that willingness and readiness to reach out to the less fortunate people in the community , to the , to the , to the poor , to the needy. So we extend our hands to them. We give them and we share with them from whatever God has blessed us with. So and this is this is the spirit of Ramadan. So when , when you knock the door on your neighbor that is in need , when you go to the street and feed people. During the month of Ramadan , when not only here locally , but we know that there are a lot of people suffering all over the world. There are people who are in refugee camps because of the wars and , and the violence and , and genocides taking place in some places in the world. So we try to reach out to those people and share with them , you know , whatever we can from whatever God has given us.

S1: You know , last time we spoke , we had an interfaith conversation about immigrants rights.

S2: This is this is a very important topic , especially here in San Diego. I mean , we we see what's going on , you know , on a , on a , on a daily basis. And at this moment I can I'm thinking about , you know , the immigrants who are detained in , our immigration detention facilities. You know , during Ramadan , there are many Muslims , you know , who are detained and during Ramadan. How are they experiencing Ramadan over there ? What kind of iftar they are having , you see , and being away from their families , separated from their families. So this is something that really hurt when whenever we think about it. And this should give us , you know , more determination to stand for what's right to , to to advocate for the rights of the immigrants and stand against every type of injustice that is taking place in our society. And we are not doing this by ourselves as Muslims. We are doing it with people from all walks of life , from all faiths. That's why this is a multi-faith or multi or an interfaith action and movement that we are having.

S1: Thank you so much. I've been speaking with your mom , Taha Hassan with the Islamic Center of San Diego. Imam Hasan , thank you and really have a blessed Ramadan.

S2: Thank you so much. Thank you.

S1: That's our show for today.

S3: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.