USA-ARIZONA: FORT HUACHUCA HAS A MOSLEM CELEBRATION

Muslim students celebrate end of Ramadan on Fort
By Bill Hess

FORT HUACHUCA — To Muslims, Ramadan is a month-long period on reflection, one involving praying, fasting and giving to charity.

The end of Ramadan is celebrated with the “Feast of Breaking the Fast,” Eid al-Fitr. Although when the sun sets during the month-long highly religious holiday, the daylight-long fasts are broken, with adherents eating.

But, when it comes to Eid al-Fitr, the final day of fasting and the feast that follows is a time for wholesale rejoicing by families.

For the Muslim officers attending the Intelligence Center’s Basic Officers Course, their families are far away, and joining them for the end of Ramadan feast did not happen.

Egyptian Maj. Afifi Mohamed his has yet to see and hold his 1-month-old daughter Kenzee — and will not until she is about 8 months old, when he returns to his homeland.

When Eid al-Fitr ended on Monday, the feast was in the hands of his wife, Wafaa, who along with their older daughter, Hana, 6, were joined by other family members and friends, the major said.

The special feast is a time for family, a time when Muslims reflect back on not only the Ramadan period, while looking ahead, he said.

But, it doesn’t mean he and other Muslim students on the fort had to forego the feast because there were no family members present.

They just had a different family — other foreign officers and members of the Intelligence Center’s staff.

Although their Eid al-Fitr event was later than the technical conclusion of the holiday, the delay until Friday was because of training requirements.

The meal, served in the rear of Nicholson Hall, was a combination of Middle Eastern fare — lamb and couscous — and an American Western barbecue of hamburgers.

The feast was the first time the foreign officers came together to help their Muslim friends celebrate.

Hosting the event was the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. Ed Riehle.

“This is the first time we’ve done something like this,” Riehle said. “It’s a small ceremony. It’s new for us.”

With foreign officers from many nations, from almost every continent, he said helping the Muslim students celebrate the end on the most holy of their holidays brings more of a cultural awareness of their faith, Riehle said.

Speaking about the importance of how Muslims practice their faith was Moroccan Cmdr. Adbelaziz el Moussaoui.

The senior Muslim officer at the course, he said people who practice the faith have one thing in common, and that is Arabic, which is the language of the Koran and of sayings of the Prophet Mohammed.

But the cultures of the Muslims at the Intelligence Center are varied, Moussaoui said, noting some of the students are from Chad, Malaysia and Albania, and they are Muslim.

“We speak different languages, but we read the Koran in Arabic,” he said.

Like other foreign officers at the school, he is learning different cultures, including those of other Muslim nations, European and American, Moussaoui said.

And, Americans at the center, those attending the course and those who are part of the cadre learning there are many different Muslim cultures, he said.

There is a network being developed which is based on trust and understanding, the Moroccan commander said.

“It’s a good, good thing. We take from you, and you take from us,” he said.

And as everyone learns from each other “partnerships develop, making relationships stronger,” Moussaoui said.

The foreign officers, of all faiths, along with other members of the Intelligence Center, soldiers, civilians, contractors, met to take part in the symbolic special feast ending Ramadan.

Hungarian Capt. Janos Noszk— said the month-long requirements the Muslim officers had to keep helped him understand part of the culture.

During the daytime fasting, the Muslims not only did not eat, they did not smoke and did not drink, he said.

When it was sundown they did eat, and they ate a lot, Noszk— said, adding he wondered how much sleep they got with full stomachs.

But, to him, what is important is having a better understanding of another person’s culture.

For Mohamed, who missed this year’s Ramadan with his wife and daughters, going to school with officers of other cultures was equally eye-opening.

There are many things that non-Muslims don’t understand about Ramadan, he said.

Not everyone has to fast, such as his wife, who has to feed their new child.

Others, such as those who are old or ill, do not have to fast each of the 30 days of the religious holiday, the major said.

But, those who don’t fast are expected to feed 10 poor people each day, as a part of the faith’s belief involving charity, Mohamed said.

“I gave money to my wife to feed 10 poor people each day,” he said.

As he prepared to stand in line to partake of the Eid al-Fitr, Mohamed said sometimes the media do not fully explain the different cultures of the people of the world.

Ramadan is not only praying, fasting and giving to charities, “it is a time to seek forgiveness,” he said.


Pertinent Links:

1) Muslim students celebrate end of Ramadan on Fort

2) Fort Huachuca


...

Then, in 1971, the post became the home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School, bringing with it the School Brigade.
The Strategic Communications Command became the U.S. Army Communications Command in 1973, subsequently changing to the U.S. Army Information Systems Command in 1984.
In October 1990, the post changed hands with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command became the new host command; the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca now operates the post.

...

That's rigth, let us have our ARMY INTELLIGENCE OBSERVED by foreigners, WOOO HOOOO...

Why the hell do we even have the word intelligence in there?!? We sure as hell don't exhibit any...