Home Tech UpdatesGeneral News Marine Corps’ Top General Joins Ramadan Meal

Marine Corps’ Top General Joins Ramadan Meal

by Yolando B. Adams

The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Neller, stopped through a mosque out of doors Baltimore on Thursday evening for Iftar, the short-breaking meal throughout the month of Ramadan, while working towards Muslims don’t eat or drink for the duration of daylight hours.

“I don’t keep in mind coming on your mosque to be something top-notch,” Neller said in his brief feedback.

But the sort of visit wasn’t ordinary, either.

Ramadan

As the Marines’ pinnacle is well known, Neller is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advising the president. Last 12 months, President Donald Trump skipped Iftar, ending a 20-yr way of life of website hosting a Ramadan dinner on the White House.

In his remarks to the 100 or so Ahmadi Muslims gift, Neller gestured to Mansoor Shams, the previous Marine who invited him.

“He’s a Marine, and he requested me to return, and I said yes,” said Neller.

This 12 months, Trump did host a dinner last Wednesday night time. The visitors were normally foreign dignitaries. No mainstream American Muslim leaders were invited.

“And that points to a larger theme that has been growing under this president that Islam is an overseas religion,” Omar Noureldin, vice chairman of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told NPR’s, Ari Shapiro. “I suggest American Muslims were a part of this united states of America since its founding.”

A message of inclusion

At the Bait-us-Samad (House of the Eternal) mosque near Baltimore, Neller could no longer take media questions; however, he did take some from the target audience, ordinarily about how Muslims are perceived employing fellow Americans. He explicitly prevented politics or policy along with his answers.

“There are continually going to be [those who] lump huge companies of human beings in single classes. But I think as a Marine, I’m extra interested in the person and their capacity to serve,” he stated.

Neller shared some memories about his travels as a Marine to locations wherein he becomes the minority as a white, Catholic American. He spoke about the usage of what he is aware of about Islam to locate commonplace ground with Iraqi leaders at some stage in 12 months spent in Anbar province.

“We’re all sons of Abraham – why are you combating me?” Neller recalled telling them.

 

Neller brought that in combat, all the distractions of the race and faith of your fellow Marine fall away.

Mansoor Shams, the previous Marine who invited Neller, says he wrote to the commandant closing 12 months, not awaiting a reaction. But Neller did write again and finally asked Shams to talk to Marine officials approximately Islam. Neller said that coming to the mosque changed into a way to go back to the choice.

“It gave me extra desire, it gave me more optimism,” Shams stated. “Even while you’re going through the ones bumps on the street where you’re getting bashed left and proper on your faith, that if you have the commandant of the Marine Corps standing there like a real patriot, an American, to your mosque it simply offers you some goosebumps that say the whole thing goes to be OK.”

Shams served 4 years in the Marine Corps and is now a businessman, but he spends plenty of time doing outreach. Part of that has been organizing Iftar dinners all this month with veterans.

Shams says vets are one of the maximum reputable agencies in the USA proper now, and he feels Muslim Americans are one of the most disparaged. As a member of both, he desires to alternate that.

Ramadan comes from the Arabic root ‘ramada’ or ‘already, because of this sizzling heat or dryness. There may be interpretations of this call. Ramadan signifies the burning desire for meals and water since it is the month of fasting. The other interpretation is that fasting with a pure goal burns away the earlier sins. It is assumed that fasting for the duration of Ramadan is thirty instances stronger than throughout every other time of the year.
Ramadan is replete with customs and traditions. A follower of Islam is predicted to observe the holy customs strictly and look at Ramadan with a pure coronary heart. Ramadan is the holiest of the 4 holy months within the Islamic lunar calendar. Once the sighting of the new moon is authenticated from a dependable supply, numerous customs and stringent practices begin as part of the deep-rooted Ramadan culture. At the graduation of Ramadan, Muslims desire each different announcing, “Ramadan Mubarak,” which means that “Blessed Ramadan.”

Ramadan – Do’s and Don’ts

Ramadan is a month of fasting. However, it’s miles most customarily misinterpreted as simply a duration of abstaining from meals. The importance of Ramadan fasting in truth encompasses a miles wider array of activities. It indicates abstaining from –

i) Food

 

ii) Drink

iii) Sex

iv) Bad behavior (smoking, gossiping, losing time, an excessive amount of vain television, complaining, etc.)

During the Ramadan month, fans of Islam are predicted to spend their time doing the following sports

i) Reading/reciting the Qur’an (at the least one Juz or phase in keeping with day)

ii) Salat – there are greater nighttime prayers, and one can also locate this a perfect time to practice more sunnah prayers as properly

iii) Dhikr – Remembrance of Allah and repetition of His Attributes

iv) Du’a – Actively thanking Allah for all of our advantages and going to Him only for our needs

v) Other nonsecular studying or reading

vi) Spending excellent time with our families and Muslim pals

vii) Sharing with others

viii) Giving extra charity

Ramadan Prayers

During Ramadan, a Muslim is anticipated to devote the predominant part of the day to prayers and studying the lessons of the Quran. During the whole month of Ramadan, Muslims are recommended to read the complete Quran. For the benefit of reading the Quran within the thirty days of Ramadan, the 114 chapters had been divided into thirty identical components. The unique nighttime prayers where lengthy quantities of the Quran are recited are called Taraweeh. It’s an Arabic word meaning relaxation or relaxation. Since those prayers are pretty long, after every for rakaats, the devotes momentarily relax before resuming their prayers. Hence the name.
Another critical prayer is the Takbeer that is generally recited after completing any vital undertaking; for instance, it’s miles recited after the short of Ramadan. Takbeer is a sign that the festivities of Eid-Ul-Fitr have all started.

Ramadan Food

Ramadan is the month of fasting; no food is taken from sunrise to sundown. Meals are taken earlier than sunrise and after sundown. These meals are called Suhur – the meal before sunrise and Iftar – the meal after sunset. Friends and family acquire together at some point of Suhur and Iftar to experience food collectively. A huge form of food is taken. Muslims in extraordinary parts of the world have their personal preferred dishes for Suhur and Iftar, but the spirit of Ramadan remains identical all through.

 

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