The holy month of Ramadan is in full swing in Newburgh at Masjid Al-Ikhlas mosque, located at 25 Washington Terrace. During the month-long celebration, the mosque welcomes its neighbors and greater community members to come and partake in the daily Iftar (breaking the fast) periods during the holy month. A greater community Iftar has been planned for a later date with local officials anticipated to be in attendance.

At sundown on Sunday, March 10, the holy month for Muslims began. It will continue until Tuesday, April 9. It is during this holy month that Muslims partake in fasting, prayer and reflection in community with one another. It is said that it was during this holy period that the Quran, the Islamic sacred text, was revealed to the prophet Muhammad.

During Ramadan, Muslims observe a fast (sawm) from dawn to dusk each day from food, drinks or unkind thoughts or behaviors. The practice of fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The pillar zakat, involves the act of charity while the pillar shahadah refers to the declaration of faith in one God, known as Allah. The other pillars include Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, the most holy site in the Islamic faith and salah, the daily observed prayers.

Salah involves five periods of prayer at designated times throughout the day and during that time, those praying are facing towards Mecca. Daily prayers are held within the musalla, a space dedicated to prayer within the mosque. Men and women pray separately from each other within the mosque.

During Ramadan, Muslims partake in what is known as the Iftar, the meal served at the end of the day to break the daily fast. A celebration known as Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Ramadan celebration.

Prior to being used as a mosque, the building on Washington Terrace was once used as a warehouse before being purchased in 1992. The building underwent an expansion that was completed in 2007. Imam Salahuddin M. Muhammad and his wife Fonda K. Muhammad began leading the congregation in Newburgh in April 1985 and have since moved out of the area. Hamin H. Rashada, since passed, was Imam Salahuddin’s assistant and his wife Melody served as treasurer early on in the congregation. Both families were an integral part of the expansion of what the masjid is today.

“The most important thing to me is the continuity of this community, that it continues and continues and continues after all of us are gone,” said Rashada. “It’s a very exciting time getting ready for Ramadan and I love the feeling when I see everyone preparing, it gets me even more excited.”

For several of the mosque board members and leaders, the mosque is an integral part of their faith as a Muslim. “Place of worship doesn’t mean only that we come here to worship; this is more to us. This is a place for the community to get to know each other, interact with each other,” said Dr. Quasar Choudhry. “For a Muslim, a mosque is the main center of his life and for the Muslim community, this is his house. It is Allah’s house, God’s house.”

For others, familial and personal ties and experiences remain an important part of their upbringing at the mosque. “When the expansion and the idea of construction and what not happened, I was very much involved physically so a lot of things that you see here were actually done by my very hands, some of the tiling work and the demolition work,” said Ahmed Rehman. “This place means home away from home.”

For the greater Newburgh community, the hope is for members and neighbors to come together, break bread and learn from each other without fear or misconception. “We are peaceful people and whatever negativity they have, they will come and see that we are not like that,” said Ahsan Paracha.

“The message that I want to get out to kind of the greater communities is, get to know us. We’re very passionate but we are very kind, welcoming,” said Imam Mohamed Abdulhafiz. “Get to know us and let’s break bread and let’s actually help the greater community do better.”