Source: The Toledo Blade
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081002/NEWS10/810010234
Azeeze Abdoley arrived at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo long before dawn yesterday, joining other kitchen volunteers at 5:30 a.m. to prepare meals for more than 1,000 guests.
The community meal was part of the Muslim observance of Eid ul-Fitr, or Feast of Fast-Breaking, the holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan. During the holy month of Ramadan, the world’s estimated 1.2 billion Muslims honor God’s revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Mohammed by abstaining from food, drink, and earthly pleasures from two hours before dawn until dusk.
“It was a beautiful month. Very nice, very nice,” Ms. Abdoley said as she shaped dough into flat circles and made spicy bread by adding oregano, sesame seeds, and olive oil.
“There were 14, 15-hour days of fasting, but when you have it in your heart, it is a blessing,” said Ms. Abdoley, 65, who joined the Islamic Center after arriving in Toledo from Lebanon 47 years ago.
Several thousand Muslims from northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan gathered for the Eid yesterday at area mosques including the Islamic Center in Perrysburg Township; the Masjid Saad in West Toledo, and Toledo Masjid Al-Islam Islamic Center in the central city.