Long Island Muslims celebrate Ramadan's end in record numbers

Thousands of Muslims across Long Island gathered Tuesday in record numbers to celebrate one of the most important moments of the year — the end of Ramadan and its month of fasting.

The three-day Eid al-Fitr festival, marking the end of Ramadan, started with morning prayer services at packed mosques. The faithful dressed in traditional clothing and prepared for special meals later at home with family and friends.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s like a Muslim Christmas,” said Fatima Shafiq, 27, a hospital administrator in Manhattan who attended services at the Islamic Association of Long Island mosque in Selden.

Sundus Imam, 23, a nursing student at Utica College who is from Mount Sinai, said it was the most joyous time of the year.

“I love today,” she said. “It is the one day of the year you get to see the entire community come together.”

The Selden mosque broke a record for attendance at this year’s Eid al-Fitr, with close to 3,500 people attending four services, said its president, Syed H. Rahman.

Congregants spilled out of the standing-room-only mosque during the second service at 8:30 a.m., with about 200 praying outside in the parking lot on mats.

The crowds were so large that the mosque made a last-minute decision Tuesday morning to add a fourth service at 10:45 a.m. to accommodate people who could not get into the earlier services, Rahman said.

In Nassau County, a record 8,500 people attended two services at Mitchel Field in Uniondale organized by the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, said mosque president Dr. Isma Chaudhry.

The services were held at the indoor sports complex because the mosque could not handle the crowds, she said.

She thinks the numbers jumped because of the growing Muslim population and because some school districts shut down for Eid al-Fitr for the first time this year.

Long Island is home to an estimated 80,000 Muslims and more than two dozen mosques — with more under construction.

With 1.8 billion followers — or about one-fourth of the world’s population — Islam is the largest religion after Christianity and is the fastest-growing major religion.

Ramadan, which started May 5, is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. Besides fasting from dawn to dusk, they are expected to perform acts of charity and service, engage in self-reflection, and focus on their spirituality.

Ramadan is about bringing one’s “focus back from our daily extravagance and self-indulgence to a mode of humility and God-consciousness and our duty to our communities and our fellow human beings,” Chaudhry said.

Muhammad Abdullah Sheikh, the imam or spiritual leader of the mosque in Selden, told congregants Tuesday he wants that message to continue throughout the year, beyond Ramadan.

“Don’t let this month go down the drain,“ he said.

Along those lines, the services at Mitchel Field also included the launch of a voter-registration drive, which signed up hundreds of people as part of a nonpartisan civic effort to support democracy, Chaudhry said.

The holy month commemorates the time when the prophet Muhammad received the Quran, the holiest book in Islam, from the angel Gabriel in the early 7th century.

The dates of Ramadan move through the seasons because it is based on the lunar calendar. This year, that meant as many as 16 hours a day of fasting because of the differences in the length of daylight each year.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The faithful must refrain from eating or drinking any liquid, even water.

Rahman, of the Selden mosque, said this year was a little easier than last year, because the days were slightly shorter, and the weather was cooler, with lots of rain.

Many of the faithful plan to spend the three days of Eid al-Fitr making short visits to the homes of friends and relatives, sharing a cup of tea and snacks.

Children traditionally receive gifts of money from relatives and friends during the holiday.

Some Muslims also spend part of the day remembering the dead.

Imran Rahman, 50, a Miller Place resident and executive in a software company, said he planned to visit Washington Memorial Park Cemetery in Mount Sinai to pay his respects to his parents, who are buried there.

This year, in an unprecedented move, at least 10 of the roughly 30 mosques on Long Island hired armed security guards for the holy month.

They made the decision after a spate of violence at Jewish, Christian and Islamic houses of worship around the world including the March 15 fatal shooting of 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“Things were very calm because there was a visual deterrence to anybody who was thinking of doing anything drastic,” said Chaudhry, whose mosques attracted about 1,000 of the faithful each night for prayers and a breaking of the fast. “For our congregants it was a huge sigh of relief.”

In Selden, “Everything went exceptionally well,” Syed H. Rahman said. “It was very peaceful and orderly.”

Sabih Siddiqi, 25, a lawyer in Manhattan who grew up in Coram, said he understood the need for armed security.

“It’s definitely scary, but it’s needed,” he said.