An invitation to dinner – and friendship

Beware of friends like me. I’m the kind of friend that you invite to dinner and I turn around and invite the whole neighborhood.

I do ask permission, however.

The event this time is the breaking of the fast of Ramadan, a joyous celebration of Muslims worldwide. My friend Soumaya Khalifa of Peachtree City wrote this week:

“Dear Friends,

“It’s Ramadan and we are keeping up with our tradition of inviting our friends of other faiths to join us for breaking the fast at the Muslim Community Center of Atlanta at 288 E. Lanier Ave., Fayetteville, Ga. The dates are: Friday 9/21 at 7:30, Friday 9/28 at 7:15 or Sunday 9/30 at 7:15 pm. Please let us know which of these days works best for you.

“We look forward to seeing you. You are also welcome to bring a guest – just let us know.

“Happy New Year to our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

When I asked her if I could extend her invitation to the community at large, the indomitable Soumaya said that was “a brilliant idea. Let’s go for it.”

RSVP to dirisbatl@yahoo.com, or call 404-377-8380.

We’ll do our homework, and then I’ll tell you my real motives. The BBC has a section online on religions of the world; that’s where I got the following.

“The month of Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, prayer, doing good deeds and spending time with family and friends. The fasting is intended to help teach Muslims self-discipline, self-restraint and generosity. It also reminds them of the suffering of the poor, who may rarely get to eat well.

“Reading the Quran is an important part of Ramadan, and many Muslims will attempt to read the whole of the Quran at least once during the Ramadan period. Many will also attend special services in Mosques during which the Quran is read.”

Sounds a little like the Christians’ Lent, doesn’t it? – although I think Muslims take the whole thing a lot more seriously.

“At the end of the month, once fasting has been completed, a big celebration takes place known as Eid-ul-Fitr, the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast. During this celebration Muslims dress in their finest clothes, give gifts to children and spend time with their friends and family. At Eid it is obligatory to give a set amount of money to charity to be used to help poor people buy new clothes and food so they too can celebrate.”

Soumaya adds: “Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic Lunar calendar. We are now in the year 1428. The month begins with the sighting of the new moon. Muslims believe that the Quran was revealed to prophet Muhammad by Angel Gabriel in the month of Ramadan.

“Muslims fast from dawn to sunset each day in the month of Ramadan. Those fasting abstain from food, drink, and marital relationships during the time of fast.”

Born in Egypt and well-traveled, Soumaya points out that fasting is found in Christianity and Judaism as well, as a training in self-discipline.

“It brings people closer to the Creator and to each other. Muslims around the world observe this month by fasting and doing special prayers each night where they read 1/30 of the Quran every night in congregation so by the end of the month they would complete reading the whole Quran during the prayers. They also eat together. This is what Fayette County Muslims also observe at the Muslim Community Center in Fayetteville.”

Soumaya estimates that there are 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, seven million in the U.S., 125,000 in Georgia, and 750-1,000 on the south side of Atlanta.

“Every night during Ramadan, there is a community breaking the fast at the center,” she says. “Muslims are very diverse and come from different backgrounds. This is evident during the breaking of the fast, or Iftar in Arabic. There are dishes from all over the world. The pot luck dinners can range from cornbread and fried chicken to rice biriyani (chicken and rice with hot spices) to eggplant mosakaa to baklawa to stuffed grape leaves.”

Not to mention hummus, falafel, homemade pita…. You’ve figured out one of my motives: the food these women put out. They must include nonstop cooking as one of the obligations of Ramadan because there seems no end of food, almost entirely ethnic.

Despite my protests, Soumaya says people from the community should not bring any food. “They would be our guests, but they do need to RSVP so that we can have enough.”

Why else did I invite Fayette County to Iftar? I’d like to demystify local Islam. That’s what Soumaya is all about. She was instrumental in founding and directing the Muslim community center here, and loves nothing better than sharing her faith and hearing about others’.

The Khalifa family could be any American family (and it is): Soumaya is a human resources and diversity consultant and a Realtor. She and her husband Mohamed and have two sons: Yousuf, who is doing his residency in ophthalmology at the Medical College of Georgia, and Osama who works in Houston and is a graduate of Georgia State University. The exquisite Yosra is a graduate of McIntosh High School and attends Georgia State University.

And they have a granddaughter, Nour, 3, who is Yousuf's daughter.