Woodland Mosque Interfaith Iftar Draws Large Crowd
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The Woodland Mosque and Islamic Center held its annual Interfaith Iftar on May 26. The event attracted large number of people from Woodland and other towns. Muhammad Usman Sadiq was the MC of the event.
The program began with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Hafiz Mudassar Khalid. It was followed by a talk about the importance of the month of Ramadan by Marwa Zafar, a PhD student at the UCD.
The Interfaith iftar was attended by clergies from other faiths as well as public officials including Rebecca Ramirez (Fire Department Chief), Captain Derrek Kaff (Woodland Police Department), and Jeff Reisig (Yolo County District Attorney).
Bill Scheroder offered an interfaith prayer before meal. Imam Riaz Qadri offered Prayer for Peace.
Among those who addressed the guests were Gary Sandy (former mayor of Woodland), Samina Sundas (Executive Director of American Muslim Voice) and Khalid Saeed (National President of American Muslim Voice).
Khalid Saeed welcomed the guests and also introduced the Woodland Mosque Board of Directors. He also thanked all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to make the event successful.
Whether it’s fasting or eating a meal, the shared experience can mean better mental health as well as a closer-knit family, speaker Marwa told the audience.
“There are studies that show children who share meals with their parents and their families five times a week are way better in academics than the kids who eat alone,” Marwa said. “I would say to those who are fasting that the habits you are developing will help you throughout the year. And to those who are not fasting, try to make some time to be at the table and be with your dear ones.”
Wearing a black and silver head-scarf, Woodland Fire Chief Rebecca Ramirez said the iftar dinner was a means to bring family together and “share this gentle blanket” of oneness. She was pleased to “be able to work in a community where diversity is encouraged” including the “diversity in beliefs, diversity in speech, diversity in thought and diversity in all the things that we do.”
Former Woodland Mayor Gary Sandy and current Yuba College trustee and candidate for 3rd District Supervisor, Gary Sandy said the weather was perfect and the company pleasing.
“We live in troubled times,” Sandy said, “but we also live in times where here in Woodland we work together to make those times better. It’s been said that we wage war, but we practice peace. Well, we need to practice peace so we can get it right.
“It’s clear that this is something we have not yet perfected,” Sandy added. “We need to spend more time on practicing peace, more time on harmony with one another, more time on developing cooperative solutions with one another. And here in Woodland we’re about that important work ... When we gather here together and break bread together, we’re practicing peace. And we need to do this for however long it takes to get it right.”
Woodland Police Capt. Derrek Kaff thanked members of the Woodland Mosque for their help over the years and described how the department is trying to be more inclusive.
“We have a lot of community outreach programs,” he said. “We’re going to be looking as a department to form more partnerships because we know the closer we become — the more we get to know each other — the harder it is to do something wrong ... We are changing from the inside and we want you to be part of that. For all young folks here — and I hate to make it a recruiting message. But for all the young folks here, if you want to make a change in the community I would encourage you to come and talk to us about a career in the Woodland Police Department because as we move forward we want to make sure we are recruiting all segments of the community.”
Larry Love, pastor of the Woodland Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who is also the president of the Woodland Multifaith Ministries, and Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, also spoke on the occasion.
Both Love and Reisig expressed their gratitude to members of the Mosque, saying that the dinners and other activities have fostered a spirit of togetherness and community for everyone.
The Interfaith Iftar program ended with the call for Maghreb prayer by Muhammad Usman Sadiq and food was served. (With input from the Woodland Democrat)
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