Southern California Muslims prepare for holy month of Ramadan.
People gather for Friday prayer at the mosque at Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo on Friday afternoon, March 8, 2024. Ramadan begins on Monday, March 11, 2024. Though Mahboob Akhter’s grandchildren are not of the age of people who traditionally fast during Ramadan, they’ve decided to try it as a way to sense what other Muslim children who live in Gaza are feeling, their grandfather said.
A Ramadan Mubarak moon with stars hangs in the lobby of the Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo as people gather for Friday prayer at the mosque on Friday afternoon, March 8, 2024. Ramadan begins on Monday, March 11, 2024. Imam Tarik Ata, right, speaks to people gathered for Friday prayer at the mosque at Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo on Friday afternoon, March 8, 2024. Ramadan begins on Monday, March 11, 2024.
People gather for Friday prayer at the mosque at Orange County Islamic Foundation in Mission Viejo on Friday afternoon, March 8, 2024. Ramadan begins on Monday, March 11, 2024. During Ramadan, prayers are made five times a day starting before dawn – Akhter said many prayers now will be for those who have died and those who remain in danger.
Dr. Ahmed Soboh, director of the Islamic Center of Yorba Linda and part of the Islamic Shura Council, the umbrella for mosques in Southern California, said people “want to connect more with their faith and mobilize the community more to be active” and because of that, the spiritual component of this Ramadan “will be much stronger” for many.
Spirituals and acts of worship during Ramadan include giving charity, attending scripture learning and reading gatherings, and staying up late at night saying prayers. Soboh said he will spend Ramadan visiting mosques around the region and speaking on topics such as “how to be more active to fix the situation in Gaza, what we can do as American Muslims and how to transfer the spiritual energy of Ramadan into activism after Ramadan.”
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