Festival & New Muslims...
A message from a new Muslim to Muslims born in Islamic families during the Ramadan and Eid festivals.
Dear Muslims born in Islamic families,
Please take a moment to read my short message about the new Muslims (reverts) in your Islamic community.
If you know someone who was not born into a Muslim family but has chosen Islam as their way of life, invite them to Iftar dinners and Eid festivels. (Ramadan and Eid al Adha as well).
While Ramadan and Eid are great times for you, for many new Muslims it can be a lonely and even more depressing time. The main reason is that we don't have family and friends to understand, support, encourage, or cheer us on in our new faith.
Ramadan and Eid are the loneliest and most depressing days for many new Muslims. Because we have no family and friends to understand, support, or encourage us in our new faith.
We don't have a Muslim family to wake us up for Suhoor before we start our fast. So we get up alone, have Suhoor alone, and start our fast alone.
Often, since we live far from the mosques, we pray Fajr alone. Often, we rarely even hear the call to prayer. Sometimes, we have to wait a while to even hear the words "Assalamu Alaikum". Because we live mostly in non-Muslim areas.
We do not have a Muslim family to share the joy of fasting together, like you, for the sake of seeking Allah's pleasure. Therefore, we fast and endure it alone.
Some of us who live near the mosque try to go to the mosque during iftar, hoping that someone will join us. Often, we make that journey alone.
Some of us try to go to Masjid in the hope that someone will come with us during Iftar. Most of the time we go alone. After prayer, we often find ourselves alone again because you forget about us and don't ask us to join you at your traditional iftar table.
We don't have any plans for Eid. So we usually stay home on Eid and spend time alone..
You often greet each other in your native languages. When we see it like that, we feel like we don't belong to them. We know that this is not happening consciously. But in an instant, we feel that we don't belong to them at all.
Little children, dressed in new clothes, running around happily with balloons, sweets, and gift money in their hands, bring back precious memories of our childhood during the festive season. For a moment, we share the joy of your children in our hearts and think how lucky these children are to have such a wonderful experience. At the same time, we also feel a great sense of scared and sad if our children will ever be able to experience the joy of Eid. Because still they are not Muslims.
Others swear to reconnect with their old friends and family members when they run into each other. Often, new Muslims see this and we feel the pain in our hearts. Not out of jealousy, but out of awareness of the gap that arises with our usual favorites when we are unable to accept our faith. That is, by remembering the distance that arises between us and our families and lifelong friends when we are unable to share even the love we once had because of our new faith.
Since we turned away from the faith we were accustomed to, some of our family members have completely cut us off from any contact with them. Even though they have separated us, we are eager to welcome them and confirm our new faith and make it known to them. It has been another hardship for us to find it difficult to be as close as before, even though we have a new feeling for them.
We need family and friends to share our joys and sorrows with. That's human nature, no matter the circumstances. We start to feel this more when we are alone, especially during the Ramadan & Eid fastivels.
As these thoughts continue to flow, we watch you and other families rushing into their cars, ready to partake in their annual traditions. The morning Eid meal, the exchange of gifts, and the house-to-house partying.
We watch other families frantically rush off and pile into cars, ready to partake in their annual traditions; Eid family breakfast, gift swapping, and house hopping from party to party. The madness is muffled as we close the door to our car and place our hands on the steering wheel, wondering what to do with ourselves for the remainder of the day.
This is not my personal story, this is the story of every revert (new Muslim) you have ever met who can relate to the aforementioned on some level.
Unfortunately, this is the reality for many new-muslims during Ramadan and Eid.
When we have a community as large as ours, when there are so many people dedicated to da'wah, when there are so many people who claim to follow the Sunnah strictly, there shouldn't be a single Muslim or specially a new Muslm person in our communities who feels lonely, but the reality is, there are such people in many communities.
Dear 'born Muslims', how many reverts(new muslims) do you know?
How many times have you invited a new Muslim over to your home to break the fast with your family? How many times have you picked up the phone, sent a text, or reached out to see if your new-muslim friend was in need of anything?
How do you implement your faith during this blessed month and the rest of the year?
Dear 'born Muslims', do us a favor and call or text at-least one new-Muslim and invite she or he over during Ramadan and Eid time. It means more to us than you'll ever know.
A Revert (new-Muslim) in your community.