Oh geez...a little ironic being in the same city as these lights, eh?
Posted on 10/12/2007 6:21:37 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Local Muslims will mark Eid al Fitr, the Festival of Fast-breaking, not only by feasting, but by sharing their bounty with Madison's low-income and homeless people.
By Saturday, the end of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast daily from dawn to dusk, they are familiar with that gnawing feeling inside that signals mealtime is past.
"We feel what it is to be hungry, what it is to be poor," said Sadat Abiri, a member of the Islamic Center of Madison who is organizing the meal.
Lamb with rice, pizza and fruit head up a menu designed to appeal to everyone.
The meal will be served from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Neighborhood House, 29 S. Mills St. All are welcome.
Madison is not the only place where Islam is reaching out to the larger community on the occasion of Eid al Fitr, one of Islam's most holy and joyous holidays.
In New York City, the Empire State Building is illuminated by green lights this month to reflect the sense of spiritual renewal that Ramadan marks.
A Malaysian astronaut on the Russian spacecraft en route to the international space station packed his Eid feast with him, including soybean cake with ginger jelly.
And in an unprecedented display of unity, Muslim leaders from around the world released a joint letter Thursday to Christian leaders calling for peace.
Giving to the poor, or zakat, is one of the five pillars of Islam. And at Eid al fitr, each Muslim family is required to pitch in a set amount for each member, determined by local religious leaders.
Madison Muslims will be paying $8 a member this year to Islamic charity, Abiri said.
In addition, many are helping her feed the hungry.
"There's no better time to reach out to the needy," she said.
"This is what Islam stands for," Abiri said. "It is not extreme people doing things in their own interest in the name of Islam."
She hopes to make the meals -- the first was held last year -- one of the ways local Muslims become more involved with the larger community and give something back.
Partaking of the meal might arouse an interest in Islam in some diners, but that's not what it's about.
"We don't want people to feel they are going there to be converted," Abiri said.
Proselytizing is not the goal, either, of the thrice-weekly meals at the Multicultural Center of the Madison Catholic Diocese, church staffers say.
Helping the poor is "a way of living out the faith," said Steve Maurice, coordinator of St. Martin's House, a community social justice group that feeds the poor in south Madison.
"People are attracted to that, and may move toward a new relationship with God because of it," Maurice said.
Feeding the poor is one way that many communities of faith assist their brethren.
"Food is as basic as it gets," Maurice said.
That’s why there is no peace in the middle east. People are always fasting. They are in a bad mood because they have low blood sugar.
LOL
Boy, I go two days on a hot dog and danish and I just feel I’ve been irresponsible. I need to take a more spiritual view of things.
A modest proposal: Feed the obese Muslims to the starving.
“But one small group of Savages feed a few people and it’s worth a news article. I’m tired of this!”
Amen to that. BUT...do as I do. Keep your head down, do your good works and skrew the media. They don’t care for our kind, anyway, even if 80% of Americans claim to be Christians. ;)
I sleep well at night, as I’m sure you do, too. :)
Exactly. Sick stuff.
Let me see if I can articulate the perfect response to this...
Wait a minute! Here it is:
HORSESHIT!
Ya sure they're not doing that to mark the target for muslim pilots?
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