CHICAGO: Islamic Center of Naperville located in Naperville, a south west suburb of Chicago, hosted Iftar for more than 700 community members of ICN with Consul General of India, Dr Ausaf Sayeed and Consul General of Pakistan, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, on Friday, June 26.
The program was emceed by Sadia Covert. She invited Shaikh Rizwan Ali, ICN’s Resident Scholar who spoke about the significance of the month of Ramadan and what fasting means for Muslims. This was followed by a recitation from the Quran. English translation was also provided.
The program continued with everyone in the room rising and placing their right hands on their chest to recite the Pledge of Allegiance by ICN’s very own Boy Scouts Troop. Aadil Farid, President, Islamic Center of Naperville welcomed the guests and said that ICN is to serve Allah SWT and also to serve the needs of Muslims as well as the community at large.
ICN was established in 1992 with 50 families and today there are over 3500 families with professionals in the field of medicine, information technology and other fields. The ICN community largely consists of people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
ICN works very closely with people of other faiths to serve humanity whether it is Nepal earthquake, alleviating hunger and poverty, or just visiting and comforting sick in the local community.
Dr Ausaf Sayeed in his address said that “every Muslim should enlighten the authentic, genuine meaning of Islam to rest of the world, which means peace, unity, brotherhood, compassion, respect for other religions etc. This is the time we should make non-Muslims understand the real message of Prophet.
He advised Naperville community to come forward and share their thoughts/ views at Indian Consulate office in downtown.
Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, Pakistan CG agreed with his colleague Dr Sayeed about the importance of fasting, Ramadan, and unity. “I urge our Muslim brothers in our community to build bridge between various other communities like Caucasians, African Americans, Hindus, Sikhs etc. to elucidate the true meaning Islam. I also urge young generation to proliferate and branch out in many other areas of professions in to this country” Tirmizi said.
The program was concluded by a prayer by Shaykh Rizwan. People who were fasting broke their fast together with dates, fruit, and samosas. The children gathered in a crowd to greet the dignitaries saying “Peace.”
Asian Media USA
