On Saturday, Feb. 28, the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, will host a large gathering of friends, neighbors, and a few strangers. They will gather at the invitation of the Belmont Muslim Friends for iftar, the traditional breaking of the fast during Ramadan.
The Belmont Muslim Friends was founded in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. The perpetrators were two brothers who happened to be Muslim, which triggered a wave of negativity toward people of the Islamic faith.
“There was a lot of Islamophobia, and I thought it would be important for us Muslims to come together in the neighborhood to get to know each other,” said group founder Farah Abbas.
Abbas began sending emails to people she thought might be interested. According to Abbas, the first meeting drew 10 people to her home. The conversation was like any other neighborhood group, as guests shared thoughts on living in Belmont and how their children were doing in the schools.
The iftar tradition stemmed from those early meetings.
“One of the things that is fascinating about the Belmont Muslim community is that it’s very, very diverse,” Abbas said. “We come from a lot of different countries, different backgrounds, and we are learning from each other, too, different ways of practicing the faith and the commonality among us and our different traditions and our different dress and clothes.”
Maha Hassan joined the group in 2019. From her first days here, she has felt welcomed in Belmont by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
“I felt like they appreciated diversity. They would like to help you, would like to give you the ins and outs of town,” she said. “I felt the community vibes, I would say the first few months after I came to town.”
According to Abbas, when her son was at Belmont High School, he was one of the few, if not the only, Muslim in the school. It was a time of education and advocacy.
“I remember when I would go into the high school to try and advocate for things, I would get blank stares. I felt like a stranger trying to say things that nobody understood,” she said.
These circumstances have changed. There is now a space for devout students to pray. A Muslim student group has formed at Belmont High School and hosts an iftar dinner in March. The Belmont Religious Council has been very supportive, Abbas said.
“We have been doing [an iftar] every two years since we started, and the community has come and been very warm, very welcoming, very curious,” Abbas said.
Abbas said people attending the iftar for the first time can expect a welcoming message, a brief explanation of Ramadan, and they will find on each table cards with basic questions to prime the conversation among strangers.
“We have some Muslim families sitting with non-Muslim families, so there is a connection,” Abbas said. “I think last time, I sat with [Sen.] William Brownsberger and we had a good dialogue.”
With a federal immigration crackdown underway, Abbas said it is more important than ever for people to be heard.
“Just by having a voice, it has made it more open,” she said.
Abbas emphasized that space at the iftar is limited. If you’re interested in attending, registration ahead of time is required. There must be enough food for everyone, and knowing the head count of attendees in advance is critical.
“We want to make sure there is enough food for everybody, and especially for the people fasting,” Abbas said.
To register, use this link: bit.ly/4rSLFpg.