via Intersections: A new mosque connects local Muslims – Glendale News Press.
Amid the houses lining the darkened streets recovering from the summer heat, a corner in South Glendale remains buzzing with excitement throughout the night.
Cars have exhausted available street space.
The pitter-patter of footsteps can be heard walking toward the growing
aroma of biryani and shish kebabs neatly stacked in large aluminum tins.
Men and women are gathered here, diligently preparing to break their
fast and indulge in the evening Islamic meal known as Iftar.
It is the first night of Ramadan, a holy
time for Muslims, who — between a month-long dawn-to-dusk fast —
spiritually recharge themselves with prayer and reflection. It’s a time
to put things in the right perspective, I’m told, a time where Muslims
undergo retraining to remind them of their faith and responsibility to
fellow human beings, to the environment and the deprived, among other
things.
For decades, members of Glendale’s
disjointed Muslim community yearned for a place of their own to gather.
Now, tucked behind a tuft of manicured shrubbery on the corner of Maple
and Adams, the Islamic Center of Glendale has brought them together
where they’ve worshiped and forged relationships beyond the ones they
have with God.
In 2008, when the organization existed by
name only, Muslims in Glendale would rent facilities from the Pacific
Community Center, whom they credit for helping them out tremendously in
their efforts to carve out a space within the city. It took a few more
years of rolling out carpet every night to pray on, and interest-free
loans from community members — paying or receiving interest is
considered “haram,” or sinful, according to Islamic law — for them to
secure a permanent place.
The former Japanese church
they now use as a community center and place of worship serves 250 to
300 people and has been left almost intact, save for a few small
modifications, such as custom-made stained glass windows, according to
Abo-Elkhier Serag, the acting imam who calls himself a “servant” of the
center rather than its leader.
Having spent years on the East Coast in a
town that had a mosque, despite having just 10% of Glendale’s
population, he was surprised to learn that efforts to bring one to
Glendale would make it the city’s first.
“This city should have had a mosque 50 years ago,” he remembers thinking.
Open since mid-2010, it has steadily
attracted a growing number of worshipers, giving local Muslims a
convenient and socially vibrant way to express their faith.
Mohammed, who preferred to use his first name only, says the center has really changed things for Glendale’s Muslims.
“It has brought the community together,”
he tells me as we stand next to a line of hungry men looking to fill
their plates with the night’s feast.
A registered nurse and lifelong Muslim who
has come to Iftar before his hospital shift, Mohammed says the center
allowed previously missing social relationships that come second nature
to Muslims to finally thrive.
But as excited as everyone is with the
opportunity for their own community to flourish, leaders are eager to
engage and integrate with non-Muslims as well.
The center has hosted several open houses,
inviting the larger Glendale community to share meals and learn about
their activities. Members of local churches and synagogues have attended
in the past, said Magdy Elshwahyk, vice president of the center.
They are also very mindful of the center’s
location in the middle of a residential neighborhood, taking extra
precautions to keep noise to a minimum.
“We’re trying our best not to bother our neighbors,” Elshwahyk said.
In the middle of the night, exhausting all parking spots in a residential neighborhood. Is the call to 
No comments:
Post a Comment