Ramadan Begins Monday with Prayers at New Main Street Mosque

With Monday being the start of Ramadan, the Alam family and many others are happy to have the spacious new Baitul Mukarram Masjid of Greater Danbury.

 “The idea came to have a Bangladesh mosque when I hosted an event at my home for Congressman Chris Murphy,” said Mohammed  Rafiqul Alam, Danbury resident for seventeen years. “But Muslim is Muslim, and we have a lot of different nationalities here. We are 75% Bangladesh, and the other 25% comes from all over, Albanian, Saudi Arabia, all around the world.”

 “It took six months to find the right space,” said Alam. “We looked at many buildings, but then we found the Masonic Temple. They leased us this 4,000 square feet space. It used to be a Brazillian Church. We were able to fund the building through our local community. It didn't take much, and the Masonic Temple was very helpful.”

 “Our intention is to celebrate our community, and we only accept law abiding American citizens. During 9/11, we were sad, too. This is our country, we raised our children here. If someone harms this country, it effects us both. I have been a member of the Lion's Club for sixteen years,” said Alam. “My business is here, I am an investor, so starting this mosque was a way of giving back to the community.”

 Mahbub Ahmed, secretary of the Mosque, said, “We want to unite other mosques and schools. This is for Greater Danbury. We have been getting some calls from people who are interested in learning more.”

 According to Alam, “People are welcome to visit the mosque and listen to our speakers. We have chairs in the back for people to come and listen.”

 The Baitul Mukarram Masjid of Greater Danbury at 339 Main Street was needed because the Muslim community in Danbury has grown, and the other mosque could no longer accommodate the amount of people wishing to practice their religion in the greater Danbury area.

 “There is a lot of need for people to practice their religion. When I came here there were very few Muslim people, and we now have 300 families,” said Asif Rashid, M.D., who lives in Bethel.

 “I came here with my dad when I was young,” said Nahian Rahman, from Bangladesh. “I have been here more than seventeen years and my youngest son was born in Danbury.”

 Asrar Quzi, an elderly gentleman, said, “Our community is growing fast. When I first moved to Danbury there were only about three people. Now we have almost 1000 people from many different places.”

“Danbury was a natural choice to develop this mosque,” said Alam. It's a diverse community, and the city officials were very receptive to the mosque. The mayor was very helpful.”

 “Our religion is important to us," said Alam's wife, Nasreen.  "It gives the kids our values. If they don't practice them, they will not understand them.”

 The values are the same as virtually all world religions, with the practice of humility, faithfulness, and generosity key among them.

 “There are five pillars of the Muslim belief,” said Nasreen. “The first is, believe in one God and the prophet Muhammed, pray five times a day, fast, visit Mecca, and give to the poor. Our fasting during Ramadan takes place for sixteen hours every day, and ends on the 29^th day for Eidul Fitr, a day long festival for the family, with lots of food, and everyone wears their new clothes.”

 Ramadan originated with the spread of Islam in the mid 600s B.C.  "The apostles of Muhammed brought the Koran to India, where the people were impressed with the way the apostles lived their lives, with the love they showed," said Zia Hogue, a close friend of Alam.

Ramadan is a time to devote oneself to practicing the spiritual values of humility, self-control, staying pure, and to remove one's self from wordly things like movies and sex. The object of fasting, as it is in most religions, is to enter a spiritual state where one is able to receive guidance from God.

 “We still pray five times a day,” said Nasreen, “but at night we say a special prayer. We have to read the entire Koran in the month.”

 Nasreen said that many members of the mosque are “Modern Muslims,” and than most people only wear traditional clothing and hijab (head covering) to come into the mosque. “At home, I wear jeans, and no head covering. I dress like everybody else.”