Ramadhan 2009 in Clarksville, Tennessee

Ramadhan 2009 in Clarksville, Tennessee

By Khalil Al-Puerto Rikani

Alhumdullah, this is the second year that the Islamic Center of Clarksville is holding iftar dinner at the L&N Train Station in Downtown Clarksville. The iftar is held on Friday and Saturday. The iftar is followed by taraweeh prayer. This is a great time of year when you see many of the Muslims come out. Once the adhan is called, we quickly break our fast with dates, and then we have some small items (fruit salad, samosa, etc) to eat. Then we pray the maghrib prayer. We have some rugs to use at his place, since it is not a regular masjid. The price to get this place was very steep, but alhumdullah some brothers from the community are flipping to bill.

I am glad to see all of the brothers from the community and their family come out. The Clarksville community is very diverse. There are Palestinians, Egyptians, African Americans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Puerto Ricans, White Americans, and Panamanians. There is about at least two from the above mentioned ethnic groups. On the social level, it is also diverse. There are professors, soldiers, doctors, businessmen, students, barbers, and other professions represented.

After the maghrib prayer, we wait to get the cue from the sisters to go and get some dinner. At the L&N Train Station, there are two main halls and a small hall between the two. The first one is the place of prayer and the second one is mainly a place for eating. One thing I greatly hate (for the sake of Allah) is the fact that we are in very close proximity to the sisters. Alhumdullah, I and some (not all brothers) try and take our food back to the musallah (prayer area) or pray with our backs toward the women so as not to cause any fitnah.

After we eat, it is usually time to pray. Since there is no imam in our community the president of the executive board Dr. Ahmad Joudah usually leads the Isha' prayer. Then I and/or a Palestinian brother named lead the salaah. We usually pray four rakaat each, but today he prayed the whole eight. Dr. Joudah finishes off the prayers by praying two rakaat shafi' and one witr. The last rakah includes dua (supplications).

Tomorrow there will be a fund raising iftar at Austin Peay State University (Morgan University Center, Room UC 303 & 305). The price is $25 for singles and $50 for families. The money is to help for the price of the masjid that the community is tryingto build. The main speaker will be an "uncle" from my wife's country (Kenya) - Dr. Awadh Binhazam from Olive Tree Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Anyone in the Middle Tennessee/Western Kentucky area who would like to go can RSVP by calling Mohsun Ghias at 931-237-1050.

The photos used in this post where extracted the following website:
http://rolandontheriver.activerain.com/post/1006528/the-last-train-to-clarksville-l-n-train-station