Ramadán Islam month of fasting Boston | Starting point

“Not even water?” It is such a common question that Muslims receive during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, which has become an internal joke. Malak Ahmed, President of Social Justice of the Islamic Society of the Northeastern University, even has a hoodie that shows the question.

The answer is: not even water. Fasting means that nothing is supposed to pass intentionally lips (food or drink) from dawn to sunset.

“You feel hungry, you feel thirst, but it allows you to recognize that you have access to food, access to water, you have access to all kinds of comfort,” Ahmed told me, a second year student. “Fasting at its most basic level, in essence, really takes you to earth.”

The Sacred Month, which began on Saturday, is a special moment of reflection and spirituality for the Muslim community, a whose visibility has cultivated in BostonAs explained today’s newsletter.

The highlight of the community

Greater Boston has dozens of mosquesand many of them offer special prayers of Ramadan, meals and programming.

He Islamic Society of Boston It runs two mosques: one in Roxbury that is the largest in New England, and another in Cambridge, the original city mosque. They provide an IFTAR without cost, dinner to break the fasting, every day of the Ramadan, and serve around 5,000 meals during the month, according to a mosque official.

He Boston Islamic Center, Wayland IFTARS also serves sponsored by the community every Saturday of Ramadán and on the selected Sundays. My colleague Camilo Fonseca visited the center after the first day of fasting and highlighted the strong community there In the middle of an era of anti -immigrant rhetoric and episodes of Islamophobia, especially from the attack of Hamas in 2023 against Israel and the subsequent Israel War in Gaza. Muslims and others throughout the country, Even in BostonThey have gathered to oppose Israel’s treatment to the Palestinians there.

Yusuf Mosque in Brighton It offers a night sentence of Iftar and Tarawih (the practice of reading the entire Qur’an during Ramadan).

He New England Islamic Center It has locations in Sharon and Quincy, and organizes special IFTars throughout the month. Quincy’s location is the oldest mosque in New England, built in 1964.

He Boston City He is organizing his annual IFTAR community on March 14 at the Bruce C. Bolling building in Roxbury. In recent years, the event was held at the City Council. But Hawa Yusuf, the city’s civic commitment project manager, told me that the Bolling building was chosen to be accessible to the community, is only to the blockades of the Islamic Society of Boston.

Tips for professionals who work

At least 50,000 adults in Massachusetts are Muslims, as indicated A check of the voting rolls by the Council of American-Islamic Relations. Many people celebrating Ramadan build their schedules around prayers and when fasting begins and ends. That can make it a challenge to accommodate sleep, food and work.

Yusuf, the city’s civic participation project manager, told me that communication with the employer is really important. For example, employees could ask that work go to work in exchange for not taking a break for lunch. Or they could ask for their work days before, since some are already ready for Suhoor (food before dawn that precedes the fast of the day).

Although more people in all Massachusetts now know what Ramadan is, Yusuf also suggested that those who observe it could make a presentation during a weekly meeting of the team to educate co -workers on vacations. And to optimize the day, they could ask their bosses to avoid schedule meetings at the end of the afternoon without consideration for those who have been fasting all day.

Student tips

Many of the Muslims in the Boston area are students, and for some, this Ramadan could be their first time outside the family, a discouraging and insulating experience, since the community is essential for vacations.

“I only remember the first year, with a lot of fear, such as’ Oh, I have to break my fast in the dining room. No one around me will be fasting, ”said Reda Samari, a last year student at Boston University.

Samari, vice president of the Islamic Society of the University of Boston, told me that his fears decreased rapidly after getting involved with ISBU. He felt “wrapped in the community” with IFTARS and night sentences with students’ classmates, and now encourages other students to look for the community around them.

Universities in the Great Boston have different degrees of accommodation for Muslim students during Ramadan, such as Suhoor To-Go boxes, transfers to the mosque (another name for the mosque) for night rituals, halal meals (permissible) and prayer spaces. Many of these accommodations come from efforts led by students.

“Students need to be proactive,” said Yasamine Brown Kocaman, co -president of the Association of Muslim Students of Brandeis. She grew up in Massachusetts and told me that despite the comments such as “not even water?”, Residents seem more aware of Ramadan than before.

Still, he said, it is important to speak and educate those around you. “It really strengthens the voice when it is a collective and advocates the needs.”

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Boston and New England

• More in that knife episode: The authorities identified A 32 -year -old Roslindale man While the person fatally shot by a police officer out of service while he wielded a knife in a chick-fil-a in the back bay. Here is What’s more to know About the incident.
• Secret of the suitcase: A scorpion chopped a woman recovering her luggage At Logan airport on Sunday, police said, hospitalize it. It is not clear how the scorpion came there.
• Cutting costs: Mass. General Prosecutor Andrea Campbell announced Rules aimed at hidden “junk rates.” The new rules require companies to reveal the total cost of a transaction.
• The end is close: The Federal Government soon demolish the so -called Rosa CasaA beloved Newbury milestone, despite local efforts to save him.
• Governor’s careers: Andrea James, defender of criminal justice, presented documents to run for the governor of Mass. As Democrat, Challenging Maura Healey. In Rhode Island, Dan McKee is Running for re -election And once again he will face the former executive of CVS Helena Foulkes in the Democratic primaries.

Trump administration

• Trump’s speech: The president will go to a joint session of Congress at 9 tonight. This is what should take into account. (AP)
• TPS Fallout: Immigrant defends in Mass. He demanded Trump’s decision to shorten a program that allows Haitians and Venezuelans to live temporarily in the United States, alleging racism.
• Judging the bank: The so -called Republicans to accuse the judges that cancel Trump’s policies are growing, incited by a series of frantic tweets by Elon Musk. (NYT)
• Vaccine fight: The main spokesman for Health and Human Services resigned after only two weeks about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s silent response to a measles outbreak in western Texas who has killed a child. (Political) Meanwhile, that outbreak has made some parents further Resistant to vaccination of their children. (Punch)
• But what really thinks? Dan Bongino, a podcaster Pro-Trump and the new deputy director of the FBI, in the past, described the FBI agents, asked that the imprisonment of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and said that the Democrats are infected with “demonic energy.” (Npr)
• WARNING: Next season Flu vaccines are at riskThe experts fear, after the CDCs and the FDA canceled the key planning meetings and Trump retired from the World Health Organization, which provides data on the virus.
• Recoil: USAID said he has restored the contracts he canceled for a Georgia company that makes a peanut butter paste for malnourished children. (CNN) The National Science Foundation also plans to hire dozens of random proof employees last month. (Axios)
• Renowned, more or less: Trump’s Secretary of Defense restored Fort Benning’s name to an army base in Georgia. But now he is named after a corporal who fought in World War I, instead of a Confederate Brigade General. (WRBL)

The nation and the world

• Clean in the ethics of the hall: Kroger’s CEO resigned after an investigation into his “personal behavior,” said the grocery company. (CNN business)
• Papal setback: Pope Francis suffered two acute respiratory crises yesterday and returned to a fan. (AP)

Training, autographs and fans: See photos of The spring training of this year’s red socks.

Dullsville: What color of the house tells you that a neighborhood is giving up? Suggestion: It is not in the rainbow. (Punch)

List of pending tasks: This is the easiest way to clean your room, or any room, from top to bottom. (Wikihow)

Nothing more than a good time: A Mass The legislator is planning A heavy metal charity concert to benefit cancer treatment.

A Miss Behavior Classic: Rules for the sidewalk label.

Dating visualization: “Celtic City” and more TV to watch this week.

Big mistake: I wanted better reproduction lists. It turns out that Apple Music is a horrible DJ.

Epilogue: Although he rarely looked, Carl Dean was next to Dolly Parton like her husband and biggest defender for 60 years. He died at 82.Knoxville News Sentinel)

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Diamond Naga Siu can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her in x @Diamondnagasiu and Instagram @Diamondnagasiu.