Saturday, June 18, 2016
By Stephanie Dickrell
Katra Hethar, far left, and her family gather on the floor of her apartment to break their Ramadan fast Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Waite Park. (Photo: Kimm Anderson, [email protected])
Conveniently, St. Cloud has a chance for you to put your newly acquired worship-attending skills to use.
As part of Ramadan, families and communities make a point to welcome new people and strangers to eat with them in their homes and worship spaces. The Islamic Center of St. Cloud is having an open event, asking community members to attend iftar, or breaking the fast, as a part of Ramadan.
Join them on Thursday, June 23, between 8 and 9 p.m., said Imam Mohamed Nuh Dahir of the Islamic Center of St. Cloud. You can call him Imam Mohamed or Imam Nuh.
There will be people around to help instruct you on what to do and where to go. Members will break the fast at a little after 9 p.m., an official sunset time.
First, they will break the fast by drinking some water or eating dates, a traditional food used during Ramadan. Then members will pray. Prayer takes about five or 10 minutes at the most and people are welcome to observe. Then they will go back to eating, and there will be lots of food to share.
The food will include traditional Arab and Somali food, as well as some American food. People are welcome to bring food to share, but they don't have to.
That's also a great time to ask questions of your Muslim neighbors.
Men, women and children are all welcome. Dress as if you're attending a rather formal worship service.
Don't think that this is the only chance you'll get to visit a mosque. Keep in mind, mosques and imams are usually open to people coming in to respectfully observe and ask questions.