Canton is home to a diverse mixture of cultural and religious practices. One of the ongoing programs here at CPL is the English Language Learner, or ELL, Conversation Group. This long-running group brings together members of our community looking to improve their English in a comfortable, nonjudgmental environment.
We sat down with a few of these folks, all of whom are first-generation immigrants who practice Islam, to chat about how they carry on their religious traditions here in Canton.
Khojaste and Mohammad are a couple from Iran who enjoy living in Michigan. Khojaste remembers that she first visited the States nearly 20 years ago to stay with her brother in New York for a month. Some years later, when her adult son got a job in America, they decided to come live here on a more permanent basis. In times of peace, they split their time between here and living in Iran to be closer to the rest of their family.
When asked about their holiday traditions, Khojaste emphasized that since most of her family lives overseas, they focus on spending time with friends. She explained that one of the essential ideas of Ramadan is to understand and create empathy for those less fortunate. They practice fasting during Ramadan and then enjoy a low-key celebration with their friends for Eid al-Fitr. During these get-togethers, she said that they enjoy a variety of foods, discuss religious topics and news and generally catch up with each other.
When asked which foods they cherish the most during Ramadan, Mohammad and Khojaste firmly agreed upon the kebab with rice. "The kebab is very important," said Khojaste.
Ekhlas has lived in Michigan for 18 years now. She was born in Sudan and later lived in Egypt before moving here. Like Khojaste and Mohammad, she enjoys the holidays casually and amongst those close to her. She compares her approach to celebrating the major Islamic holidays to how many Christians in America celebrate Easter and Christmas, such as going out for a nice meal, spending time with loved ones, and creating their own way to partake in those events.
The other major holiday in Islam we spoke with our ELL members about was Eid al-Adha. Khojaste explained that it is the end of the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) and that traditionally a sheep is sacrificed to mirror Abraham’s sacrifice of his son. The lamb is then symbolically divided amongst others as a show of generosity.
Like with other Islamic holidays, the way that Muslims like Khojaste, Mohammad and Ekhlas choose to celebrate Eid al-Adha is not necessarily to attend Mosque but to exercise the values woven into the holiday by choosing to spend time enjoying the company of others.
Ekhlas extends this easygoing approach to celebrating cultural and religious holidays to her overall life philosophy. She appreciates being able to celebrate in privacy and greatly emphasizes the simplicity of practicing this way.
As she put it: "I try to live my life uncomplicated. When you complicate things, life becomes complicated."
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