Almaden Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Bowing Their Heads: Muslim women bow during prayer at the Blossom Valley Muslim Center last week. Muslims pray five time a day during Islam's holy month of Ramadan.

Breaking Fast

Local Muslims gather to celebrate Ramadan

By Monica Heger

Local Muslims gather to break fast during the holy month of Ramadan

Anna Lin begins setting out dishes of dates, a fruit and cheese plate and fried finger foods, such as egg rolls. A man sits quietly in one corner of the room, reading the Quran. More people make their way in, the men heading to one side of the room, women to the other. They sit on the floor, cheerfully chatting about their day, and begin to eat. This is the third consecutive night Lin, an Almaden Valley resident, has gathered with the same group of neighbors for an evening meal. It's a routine she will continue until Oct. 23.

Lin is among the approximately 40 American Muslims who gather every evening at the Blossom Valley Muslim Community Center during the month of Ramadan for their nightly prayers and iftar, which is Arabic for breaking of the fast.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar and varies each year because it correlates with the new moon. This year Ramadan began Sept. 24. During Ramadan, a holy month, Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset.