Signs of growth, giving mark end of Ramadan

Islamic Society raises $1 million, plans to open high school

By TOM HEINEN
[email protected]

West Allis - Raising more than $1 million in donations and pledges during the holy month of Ramadan, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee is poised to purchase a commercial building on Milwaukee's south side and start Wisconsin's first Islamic high school.

The society already operates the 425-student K-8 Salam School at 4707 S. 13th St. It is preparing to buy a building a short drive away and convert part of it to school use.

Society officials hope to close on the sale late this year or early next year and offer ninth- and 10th-grade classes in the fall of 2008, said Othman Atta, society president.

The society normally collects donations and pledges of around $500,000 during Ramadan, so this year's total has more than doubled that, Atta said. A $1.2 million down payment is needed for the building and its site, which are expected to cost more than $5 million.

Photo/Michael Sears Hassan Hassan , 1, looks on during prayers Saturday at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park, where Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the festival of fast-breaking that marks the end of Ramadan. The holy month is considered a time to be charitable.

Another push was made Saturday as several thousand Muslims from throughout the area gathered in the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park for communal prayers and socializing to mark the end of Ramadan's dawn-to-sunset fasting and the Eid al-Fitr, or festival of fast-breaking.

"If you don't give, you are not serious about the future," said Ziad Hamdan, the society's imam, as he stood before the crowd and repeatedly urged donations of $1,000 or more.

Nabil Salous, the society's fund-raising chairman, estimated as prayers began that perhaps as much as $100,000 was raised Saturday morning.

Muslims are obligated annually to pay 2.5% of their savings, after deducting basic living expenses and other costs, as a donation for the poor. It is one of the five pillars of Islam.

This annual alms payment is called Zakat, which means purification and growth, said Zulfiqar Ali Shah, the Islamic Society's religious director. Most pay it during Ramadan because the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, says that the rewards from Allah (God) are multiplied anywhere from 10 to 700 times during that month, he said.

In general, people are supposed to empathize with the poor and do charitable works as they fast during Ramadan.

At the Salam School, students collected six barrels of food for the poor, as well as toys and other gifts for Somali Bantu refugees here, said Principal Wanis Shalaby.

"There is a value that we emphasize with our students, that the world does not revolve around them, rather they need to be participants in the world," Shalaby said.

Source: JS Online, Oct 14, 2007