Eisha Kahn and her partner Liam LaFountain in downtown Biddeford on Tuesday. For the third year in a row the couple is organizing a community iftar dinner in Biddeford to celebrate Ramadan. Kahn, who grew up in a large Muslim community in Houston, said the dinner builds connections between different Muslim communities in Maine that are often separated by language, as well as between those who observe Ramadan and people who are not Muslim. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

When Eisha Khan moved to Maine from Houston she left behind a vibrant Muslim community that would come together to celebrate Ramadan.

After settling in Biddeford, she saw vibrancy in the city’s ongoing revitalization, but not in community gatherings connected to her faith. During Ramadan, one of the holiest times of the year for Muslims, she saw an opportunity to bring together people who practice Islam and form connections with others who do not.

Ramadan, which began on Sunday evening, is a time of fasting, feasting and charity that’s meant to bring Muslims closer to God. They observe a strict fast from dawn until sunset, then often gather for iftar, a fast-breaking dinner, just after the call to the Maghrib prayer, which happens around sunset.

Khan and her partner, City Councilor Liam LaFountain, organized the city’s first community iftar in 2022 and invited people from all backgrounds to come together for a meal. It’s a way to create the connections she and other Muslims say they longed for when they first moved to Maine and knew few people.

The tradition will continue this year with a community iftar on March 23 at Southern Maine Health Care. This year’s gathering includes a panel discussion that celebrates Muslim women. Khan said she chose this theme to coincide with Women’s History Month and is in the process of lining up panelists with different backgrounds who will talk about their experiences and what it means to be living and serving in Maine.

“As a woman myself, it’s important to uplift the voices of women in our community that are paving the path for others, irrespective of their religious identity,” she said.

Khan expects the gathering will build on the connections of previous years and continue to help Muslim residents feel more connected and understood in their community.

“We are part of the fabric of the community, but at times we don’t feel included,” she said. “A small gesture like sharing a meal can make someone feel at home, safe and like they are included in the community.”

‘BRING EVERYONE TOGETHER’

Israa Enan is originally from Iraq and moved to Biddeford from Portland with her husband more than two years ago. It felt like there weren’t many people from different backgrounds and she was supportive when Kahn started organizing the first iftar.

“We needed something like that to bring everyone together,” she said. “Everyone is centered in either Portland or Lewiston.”

Enan said she enjoyed meeting other Muslims and making connections with others whom she might never have talked to. She was surprised to learn that Biddeford was home to what is believed to be the first mosque in the United States.

The mosque was opened on April 5, 1915, by a group of Albanian Muslim immigrants who came to Biddeford to work in the Pepperell Mills at the turn of the last century. They formed a religious society, the National Muhammadan Religious Society of America, that thrived in Biddeford and other parts of Maine, according to the McArthur Library Archives.

The exact location of the mosque, which closed long ago, is unknown, but it is believed that services were held at the Pepperell Counting House on Main Street. There is a special Muslim burial area at Woodlawn Cemetery, where stones face east, toward Mecca.

Sam Smithwick, who coordinates English language learner classes at Biddeford Adult Education, said the city’s immigrant population and diversity have grown over the past decade, including a large population of people from Iraq. More recently, there have been more people coming from Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South America, he said.

Smithwick said he’s continually amazed at the impact that more diversity has had in Biddeford, where walking through the high school now feels like walking through Deering High School in Portland, one of the most diverse schools in the state.

“I’ve been here for 20 years and have really seen the transformation,” he said. “It’s been pretty powerful and our city wouldn’t be able to make the strides we have without the influx of the New Mainer population.”

COMMUNITY AND FAMILY

Smithwick, who is not Muslim, welcomed the opportunity to go to the iftar last year to show honor and respect for traditions that mean a great deal to Muslim people in the community. It was great to see how dynamic the community is, with people from Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and other countries all coming together, he said.

“It has been truly inspiring to witness a community annually forgoing food and drink daily in order to focus on the needs of others, to have this amount of time set aside for reflection,” he said.

For the second year, the iftar is being held at Southern Maine Health Care. Last  year, many health care providers attended, which Khan said was beneficial for both community members and for the providers. She spoke afterward to Muslim mothers who had delivered their children at the hospital, but didn’t feel comfortable until they sat down for iftar with doctors and nurses who work there.

“It helped build confidence that there’s someone who is advocating for them and taking the step to celebrate something that means a lot to them,” Khan said.

Labina Faizizada, a first-year medical student at the University of New England who grew up in Portland, loves the idea of having a community iftar in Biddeford similar to ones in states with larger Muslim populations. By gathering that way, she said, “you feel Ramadan more, because part of Ramadan is community and family getting together.”

Faizizada said it’s great that the Biddeford community iftar has been health care oriented. It’s helpful for providers to better understand their Muslim patients, she said.

“We love to have people learn more about Islam. Muslims in general are so stigmatized,” she said. “When people don’t understand, they put you in a box. This event helps people understand us better.”