How NYC's Largest Mosque Is Helping Muslims Celebrate Ramadan

HOST INTRO: It's Ramadan and Muslims are fasting from dawn to dusk in observance, but for some of the city’s newest migrants, finding and affording religiously approved halal food is hard. At this city’s largest mosque, each night Muslims meet to pray and break their fast together. Cristina Macaya reports. 

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New York City’s Islamic Cultural Center takes up a whole block on 3rd Avenue between 96th and 97th streets. It’s after evening prayers and hundreds of people are lining up to pick up the meal that breaks their daily fast. 

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Waiting in line are men, most of them migrants, who rely on the Center for free halal food every day for the holy month. And According to Mohammad, one of the Center’s volunteers, warm bowls of rice and beef are on tonight’s menu.

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It’s for everyone. Whoever is coming we are distributing the food. Every day, in every Ramadan

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Mohammed says Ramadan is more than just fasting…being observant includes caring for others…including feeding them.

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It’s not just like not eating the whole day, it’s spending more time with God. Like when we finish this work, we go to the mosque and pray to the God. 

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Luckily, the mosque is just a few feet away from the ICC, which makes picking up meals a lot easier for those coming out of prayer. The mosque is one of six around the city  working with city officials and organizations like Islamic Relief USA helping Muslims struggling from food insecurity take part in the holiday. Meha Sayed, who advises Islamic Relief USA’s CEO says 

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I know that we have increased the number of meals we are serving in NYC during this Ramadan. And that’s due to the fact that 1 in 4 adults in NYC experience food insecurity.

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Since last year’s Ramadan, Islamic Relief USA says the number of meals it’s providing is up 30 percent. And according to Meha, procuring halal food is not cheap.

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Though it may be accessible it is not always affordable. 

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But in an effort to uphold the holiday’s focus on community and charity, ensuring people are receiving quality halal meals is the organization’s priority 

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It’s just a pilar of our faith to ensure that these meals are not only healthly and warm and fresh but Hilal…. Cuz we are doing things to the highest quality and providing anyone who might be breaking their fast with dignity and respect. 

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Behind the line of men picking up boxes of food to go, there’s a small room where women are sitting down to eat. 

There are four or five long tables and women of all ages are taking their seats. Some kids are running around in the background. Ashley Resto from Puerto Rico says she didn’t grow up observing Ramadan

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Today’s like my first day trying the food…doing it here feels more special - you get to know new people and it makes you feel so wholesome…get to know everyone it’s nice. 

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Like Ashely, Hadija Fajry comes to the ICC to break her fast - and she’s also been volunteering to help distribute food at mosques around the city.  

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Last year, when I was here volunteering, there was not a huge line like that—it was more of people just coming and getting their Iftar—the taxi drivers. This year is different. 

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With more people to feed, places like the ICC have become more critical. For people interested in volunteering or picking up a box of food call 311 and ask about Iftar on the Go.