Towheed Ramjohn is Today’s Spotlight, a look at the people in Hernando’s Muslim community.
Family: Wife, Alexandria, and two sons
Native country: Trinidad and Tobago
Occupation: Retired lab technician
Arrival in Hernando County: 2003
Ramjohn lives at the end of Neff Lake Road, east of Brooksville, on a 10-acre farm where he raises goats and sheep next to a spring-fed pond. He calls it his own little "Shangri-La." Ramjohn left Trinidad and Tobago, a pair of Caribbean islands off the coast of Venezuela, 35 years ago. "I wanted to see what America was and what it was about," he said. First, he went to New York, then Tampa and Plant City. He found his Shangri-La in a classified ad but says it was a discovery inspired "by the grace and mercy of Allah." These days, Ramjohn spends his time clearing brush from his land and tending his animals. In February, during the Muslim festival that commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael, Ramjohn sacrificed one of his own goats, butchered the meat and shared it with family and friends.
