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Islamic credo helps ease holiday hunger

In a growing effort, local Muslims honor the call for charity by helping to feed the area's needy during Thanksgiving.

By JEAN JOHNSON
Published November 26, 2005

For the fifth consecutive year, the Muslim community of Hernando County has used the Thanksgiving holiday to do its part to combat hunger.

It's a tradition that now has traveled well beyond the borders of Hernando.

It all started in 2001 when Thanksgiving and Ramadan, the Muslim holy season, fell about the same time for the first time in years. Dr. Adel Eldin, a local cardiologist, was looking for a way to make the American holiday extra special that year, coming on the heels of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"A lot of charity goes on during Ramadan," Eldin said. "You must share with others; it is a duty."

In his ongoing relationship with the United Way of Hernando County, Eldin had come across many people in need, and he began building what has become a team of people who want to help bring food to the needy.

That first year, the team consisted mainly of Eldin and his wife, Ghada, and family, who gave the United Way $3,000 to create Ramadan-Thanksgiving food baskets using Publix groceries. The donation enabled them to offer 100 food baskets.

By the second year, the team included community leaders and fellow American Muslims who helped gather data, each bringing a list of needy Hernando residents. Eldin's office staff and patients also pitched in.

"It was so wonderful to see people pitching in with $10 in the very beginning," said the 43-year-old father of three daughters.

After the second successful year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida liked the idea and got involved, inviting participation by all of its chapters.

"Giving is very much a part of our faith, and Islam teaches us that in order to serve God you have to serve humanity," said Ahmed Bedier, CAIR's director in Central Florida. "This is a part of Islamic tradition, and regardless of (one's) faith we recognize them as brothers and sisters in humanity and we have to do our part in serving them."

Muslims in other parts of the country, following Eldin's lead, are doing different things: food baskets, dinners, vouchers. This year, CAIR launched a campaign encouraging Muslim communities to do whatever they can during the Thanksgiving period, including donating money or volunteering to help those in need.

Last year, when other parts of the country began joining in, "we hoped it would be contagious," said Eldin, "and it was."

This year, four or five counties in Florida are participating. Muslims in Hillsborough County, for example, sponsored a community Thanksgiving dinner this week. In addition to the dinner, continuing a practice begun last year, monetary donations were used to purchase food baskets for needy people in the community and veterans in need.

In Hernando County, the food baskets obtained from Publix are distributed by the United Way.

When asked if the charity work has helped increase understanding of the Muslim community, Bedier said, "That's not the goal. It may be an indirect effect, but our goal is to practice our faith in helping the needy. If there is an indirect positive effect, that's secondary."

Ghada Eldin believes every human being should work to build bridges among various segments of the community.

"It's a good experience to be exposed to the outside world," said Mrs. Eldin, a human biology teacher at Pasco-Hernando Community College. "I do my best and leave the results to God. Everyone has to do his part, and since all religion is coming from one God, it has nothing to do with what religion you believe in."

As in the past, the Hernando County Commission recognized the local Muslim community for its Ramadan-Thanksgiving food basket program this year. Among those present for the presentation of the proclamation were: Sheriff Richard Nugent; Dr. Nazir Hamoui, a member of the Hernando County Muslim community; the Rev. Dwight Wolter, pastor of Spring Hill United Church of Christ; Gary Stenzel of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in New Tampa; Valerie Hunt of the United Way of Hernando County; Nick Morana of the Human Rights Coalition of Hernando County; Ahmed Bedier of CAIR, and Dr. Eldin.

Eldin said he believes these types of activities will help everyone be better neighbors and more tolerant of each other.

"This is about humanity; to give and don't ask what culture or race, just give," he said. "Eventually the positive effort will dominate all the negatives, and people will focus on getting along and having mutual respect."

[Last modified November 26, 2005, 09:35:08]