KENTWOOD, Mich. — Around 7:50 p.m. on Friday, hundreds of people filed into At-Tawheed Islamic Center on East Paris Avenue. They removed their shoes as they went inside for the sunset prayer. After that, it was time to eat.
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset.
"We try to get together as a community and break the fast together. Tonight we have what they call 'iftar' - breaking the fast. The community comes in and prays and then they go down and break the fast and eat together. We normally do that one time during the weekend - either Friday or Saturday" said Dr. Ali Metwalli, who serves as a board member for the mosque.
"When you have a meal with somebody from the community, that creates bonding between the community members."
Metwalli said fasting during Ramadan trains your mind to control your body.
"In your mind you say when you are hungry, 'I want to eat.' If your mind said 'No, you're not going to eat until sunset,' then you have control over yourself. The whole process of the fasting is to try to control your mind from not listening to any bad advice or bad directions. You are in control. You tell your mind when to at. The mind decides when you are going to eat," he said.
As the war in Gaza continues, Metwalli said an occasion like this can come with mixed emotions.
"The ones that are sponsoring the food tonight are some of the Palestinian members of the community, and they feel sad that you're sitting and eating while there are some people whose family and friends are starving. That is very hard," he said.
"We try to do our best, but sometimes your hands are tied. You cannot do anything. Actually, we have been collecting some money for medical relief, but we cannot send it because nobody can get there right now. Same with food."
While much of the focus on the Middle East in American media involves war, Metwalli said Islam is a religion of peace.
"That's the sad part about it, because many people think that Islam is about fighting and killing and all that, and that's against the whole religion. Actually our religion says if you hurt one human being, your punishment at the end will be as if you hurt all humanity," he said.
"Islam, as a belief system, is all about peace. And unfortunately, around the Muslim world, peace is really rare. We always pray that peace comes to every part of the world, and that humanity treats each other with kindness."
Ramadan ends on Tuesday, April 9.
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