March 1995 Ramadan Harvest

A survey of some of the workers in Ramadan - Four Weeks of Labor + Pure Intention = Eternal Relaxation

by Ayman Ismail

A sense of place is closely attached to its physical as well as its psychological (or spiritual) characteristics. Ramadan memories are always distinct because they concentrate a rich blend of spirituality and action such as prayer in congregation, quiyam, qonoot. They occur at a unique place (the mosque) and are shared by a homogeneous group of souls surrounded by mutual love and affection for Allah.
Who can forget the happy moments when hands reach out together for that first date that breaks the fast, the heart shattering sounds of Quran reciting by Brs. Samy, Yasin, and Mahmoud echoing during Taraweeh prayer, the soul-charging short talks after the forth raqaa, Hani Saqr's cheerful Friday nights with the Seerah of the Prophet (PBUH) and those tranquil pious nights of I'tikaf. Without a doubt, a remarkable environment to anyone, even to an outsider.

However, this environment is not ad-hoc. Hard working individuals devoted their time, effort and foresaw their own satisfaction and comfort to accomplish a single job, like organizing iftar or preparing a halaqa or finding the imam. Who were some of these 'knights', and how did this experience affect them as individuals? What have they learned from it and to what extent did they encounter trouble? In this article IQRA! interviewed some of those 'servants of Allah', not just to acknowledge their effort (may Allah reward them for it), but also to understand the meaning of working for His sake and learning from our won hands-on experience so that our community continues to grow.

Perhaps the most noticeable duty during the fasting month was the 'break-fasting man'!

Title: iftar coordinator, detail: organize iftar, distribute food, clean up. time: 3-4 hours daily. Count: 20 iftar days, 2400 meals served.

Br. Bassam Abdallah, with his team of 'warriors' had the impossible task of satisfying everyone's hunger and thirst efficiently and equitably! Bassam and his dedicated team of brothers (may Allah reward them all) worked 20 days during Ramadan, preparing the cutlery, paper rolls, transporting, allocating, distributing the food and cleaning up the masjid. Bassam was generally pleased with the participation of the community in cooking for the meals, especially during the last ten days which were booked daily. However, he hoped that everybody would help in the clean-up. "It was annoying t see some just sitting against the wall watching those doing all the work! Sometimes I lost my temper, but in the end the feeling I got from seeing fasting people satisfied was great!"

This experience definitely changed both the way he perceived people's attitude and the way he behaved with them. "Astaghfirullah!" he said, smiling, when he was asked about people's manners. "One really has learned patience!" Next year, if he were to do this again, he would organize this differently. "Every member of the food distribution team should rotate leadership of the distribution process. There are too any opinions that confuse everyone and lower the efficiency."

Br. Bassam is engaged to a sister from Lebanon. May Allah complete their marriage in happiness and bring them together in peace.

Title: prayer imam. Detail: Lead Taraweeh prayer. Remarks: imam of mosque in Saudi Arabia, majors in English as a second language.

Away from the messy food stuff and more into spirituality, Br. Sami Al Mubareek was our imal for many of the Taraweeh prayers. A delightful new addition to our Columbus community from Saudi Arabia. He brought along a sensational voice and tilawaa that penetrated the hears with Quran's meanings. Br. Sami is a recent 'hafiz' (memorizer) of Quran. He owes that gift to a halaqa in Al-Hofouf, western Saudi Arabia and a Syrian Moqri'e (Quran teacher).

"Memorizing the book of Allah is not easy, and it is easily forgotten. I have to constantly remind myself by practice over and over again," he says.

Although he heard a lot about Columbus from his brother Khalid, who studies at OSU, Sami was impressed by the commitment of the Columbus Muslim community. Sami, a graduate of Arts majoring in English, is here to study for a Masters in English as a Second Language. He was an imam of a mosque in Al-Hofouf and gave khutbahs there.
Sami is married in Saudi Arabia and has two children. He is currently staying with his brother and making sure that his brother's life is in full accordance with Islam.

Title: MSA secretary. Detail: you name it, he did it! Time: 1-2 hours daily.
From an organizational standpoint, the MSA made a tremendous effort in putting the Ramadan team together. IQRA! tried to interview many of the MSA staff during Ramadan, but it was virtually impossible to get a few minutes of their time. "I really have so much to do," said Khalid Farag, MSA President as he dashed off chasing one MSA staff member.

Rached Zantout, being also on IQRA! staff, was contacted through e-mail. Informally, MSA staff complain from lack of responsible 'labor force'. According to Rached, the total number of assignments is 65 people in the various committees and subcommittees, "but when you remove the overlap of individuals who serve on many committees simultaneously, the number is much less than that," he said. "Basically, everyone is doing everything. There is no clear definition of responsibility," he complained.

financially, Ramadan has not yet materialized as a donation month. Br. Ali Rubaian, MSA treasurer observes that beside the zakat box, donations in the masjid have not increased during this month! He explained that ever since the Friday prayer moved to Bethel Road, the donation boxes became almost empty. "One can assume that those who donate are not the ones who regularly come to the mosque!" he said.

It is not possible to acknowledge all those who served Allah during this month. One can only pray to Allah "Oh Allah! Reward the one who spends in your cause freely!" and hope that more and more Muslims will seek this reward.