Visitor’S Prayers End A Special Ramadan Egyptian Speaks In Spokane In Rare Friday Event

Luae Benlitifah, a 17-year-old senior at Rogers High School, sat in a mosque in north Spokane on Friday and listened to a visiting Muslim scholar explain Ramadan and the Koran.

The annual religious holiday is a time of spiritual purification through worship, contemplation and daytime fasting. Ramadan is the holiest Islamic holiday, which begins the ninth month of the Muslim calendar.

Mohammed Abdul Fatah, from Alzahar University in Cairo, Egypt, stood before a group of 50 Spokane Muslims and led them through prayers. Everyone sat quietly before him on the carpeted floor.

After his talk and a group prayer, Benlitifah’s father translated the lecture to English.

Benlitifah will remember most the idea of forgiveness. A Muslim must mend all quarrels within three days and be the first to extend a hand of peace.

Benlitifah laughed and said he often argued with his friend, Ahmed Elgiadi, a senior at North Central High School.

They both know what it’s like to spend the past four weeks not eating sunrise to sunset. They’ve grown skilled at taking questions from classmates.

“They say things like, `Oh my gosh, you’re going to kill yourself,”’ Elgiadi said. “I just pretty much tell them it’s not very hard. It’s just like any normal day. You just don’t eat lunch.”

This year, some of Elgiadi’s friends who aren’t Muslim joined him in the fast.

“It’s kind of nice having people with you,” Elgiadi said.

It’s hard being the only one at lunch who does not eat. Hani Elgiadi, a student at Shaw Middle School, said he spent the past week shooting baskets in the gym while everyone but him and his sister ate.

Friday, at the weekly holiday of Gumah, the teenagers, their fathers and the community came together. Another 270 Muslims attended a celebration called the Eid prayer, which marks the end of the fast, said Hassan Mallah, president of the Spokane Islamic Center.

It’s a rare and special event when the end of Ramadan also comes on a Friday.

Friday is the day Adam was created and the day he left the garden, Mallah said, and it will be the day of judgment.

To help families stay true to the Muslim faith, a scholar is brought in to teach the meanings of the Koran.

“People are hungry about learning about Islam and their religion,” Mallah said.

“A lot of people do things they don’t know are wrong or right.”

They learn how to deal with people and their families.

After the prayers and lectures, several leaders sat on the floor around their guest.

“They’re talking about his Egypt travels, telling him how much they will miss him and have appreciated his coming,” Mallah said.

But then the talk died down. Benlitifah asked to lead a prayer and everyone quieted and listened.