Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ramadan Gift for Our Neighbours

Alhamdulillah this year we were able to visit some of our neighbors and offer them some Dates for Ramadan as well as a simple note explaining what the month is to Muslims. The note was initially written by a friend, I only made minor additions. This is what it read (we printed on cards):
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Dear Neighbors,

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is the month of fasting, in which participating Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset.

Fasting is meant to teach the person patience, sacrifice and humility. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of God, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance into the future, ask for help in refraining from everyday evils and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. It is a time when Muslims are more keenly aware of those in need - those who are forced to "fast" year-round.
Ramadan is also the month in which God, through the archangel Gabriel, revealed the Holy Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad.

This year, Ramadan will begin on Wednesday, August 11th and will conclude on Thursday, September 9th. The day which follows, the 10th of September, will be Eid—one of two major holidays for Muslims.


Your neighbors at [our address],
Kariman Elmuradi & Allaedin Ezzedin


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Alhamdulillah, the kids really enjoyed making these gifts--they also really enjoyed going door-to-door handing them out. Actually, at first, Nusayba thought we were going to give these packages to our neighbors so they'd learn about Ramadan and join us in the fast! I sometimes wish it was that easy :)



Yes, they washed their hands really well before we started!


Coconut covered dates

Medjool dates stuffed with walnuts

The contents



A simple note listing the contents


Goofing off after completing the project!



We're hoping to do something similar for Eid--this time with sweets insha'a Allah!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

how was the reaction? do you know if ppl ate it? looks lovely! for eid, a friend introduced me to chocolate-covered dates stuffed with walnuts. sounds like an idea!

kariman said...

we only made it to 6 neighbors for Ramadan and most were very gracious and interested...we only had one "interesting" reaction :) it was an older man and i think he assumed we were selling something so he wouldn't even let me finish my sentence. We left the box in front of the door and it was gone in less than 3 minutes. we don't know if everyone ate them, but the neighbors we personally know ate them and enjoyed them for sure!