Eid Con Sofrito

Imagine the smells of Eid. What comes to your mind? Curry, ginger, fenugreek, cloves, cardamom, coriander, cumin, or cinnamon? How about recao, cilantro, or aji dulce? “Huh?”, you may ask. “What is that? Those things did not come to mind at all”, you add.

Those herbs are key components in making sofrito, an essential spice base in Puerto Rican cuisine. You interject, “But you said smells from Eid.” Well, yes. Those are the smells of Eid in a Puerto Rican-Muslim family’s home. Our Eids have replaced roasted pork for roasted leg of lamb. Our rice, chicken, drinks (halal coquito and pina colada), and desserts (flan) all have the flavors of the island.

By the Mercy and Blessings of Allah, my family has Eid celebrations with three generations of full blooded, Puerto Rican Muslims, in addition to our family members from Mexico, Egypt, Haiti, and Mali. We have been able to normalize our culture with our faith—appreciating, celebrating, and enjoying both as one. As inseparable as arroz con habichuelas (rice and beans), it would seem strange to have one without the other. But it wasn’t always that way.

I was blessed with Islam in the 1990’s, my in-laws in the 1970’s. During that time, finding other Puerto Rican Muslims, or any Latino Muslims for that matter, was rare. Those of us who existed typically were spread out and didn’t have much interaction with each other. Our Ramadan iftars or Eid meals composed mostly of Desi, Arab, or African-American dishes. Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), we were exposed to the diversity of Islam; however, we struggled to find our niche within the global and American Muslim experience.

Many of us have faced strange interactions in the masjid or during Muslim gatherings when we mention we are Puerto Rican (“you can’t be Muslim” one brother told me) or speak Spanish (“you can’t speak Spanish here” another was told). Such interactions and cultural dissonance inspired many Latino converts/reverts to organize in order to foster support and programming that met the needs of our specific community. Local organizations such as Alianza Islamica (the first Latino masjid in America) held religious, social, and community programs in Spanish Harlem, NY, while national organizations like LADO tried to bring the dispersed Latino Muslim community together in order to encourage Dawah efforts to the Latino community. Currently, we have “Islam in Spanish” which has uniquely combined the two by providing a local, Spanish speaking center, with national media resources for Dawah and education.

What allowed these pioneers to maintain their Islam in such a foreign and sometimes hostile environment? I would posit that most had some sort of support system (or they created one) that helped ease their transition into Islam. As for myself, I was “adopted” by the Curtis/Johnson family who answered my numerous questions and who, during Eid, would invite me to celebrate with them and would even buy me gifts.

Not everyone is blessed with this type of support. For many new Muslims, Eid is one of the loneliest times of the year. While everyone else is celebrating, they have no family or friends to celebrate with. Instead of being a time of joy, it is a time of confusion and melancholy.

So, what can you do to help?

Here are a few humble suggestions for welcoming and supporting new Muslims into the community and helping them find their cultural way into the American Muslim experience:

1. Don’t push them to change their name. If someone chooses to change their name or their name has a bad meaning, that’s fine; however, an insistence on changing a person’s name will immediately distance the person from their family and potentially their cultural heritage.

2. Have a big brother, big sister system in the masjid (mosque). If a person came to Islam through a friend, then that friend can play that role (if they feel comfortable or have the knowledge to do so). However, there needs to be designated people in the masjid who are available to new Muslims and answer their questions and steer them in the right direction. New Muslim classes are essential, particularly because there are many groups who target Muslims with high motivation and little knowledge.

3. Foster cultural appreciation in the masjid. Have Latino (or other cultural) iftars or other cultural days that showcase the diversity of the masjid. This is particularly important in masaajid that are predominately one culture (like a Desi or Arab dominated masjid). Allow the new Muslims to tell their stories and become part of the programming committees in the masjid.

4. Invite new Muslims to Eid parties. If the masjid hasn’t organized a new Muslim Eid celebration, invite them to your home to enjoy the time with your family AND ask them to bring or share something from their culture with your family, so their culture is given the respect and value that it deserves.

5. If you’re married to someone from another culture, make sure you welcome that culture into your household. Visit their homeland, eat their foods, and get close to their family. Your spouse came to Islam, not to your culture.

We need to make sure that everyone is able to develop their own Muslim cultural identity. We need to foster an environment in our masaajid and homes that not only respects, but celebrates the beauty of Islam’s diversity. We have to remember that our Muslim countries were not always Muslim. It took years (sometimes hundreds) before Islam and Pakistani, Egyptian, Somali, or Malaysian culture became one. We have to nurture the same opportunities to those from the United States, Korea, Ireland, or Brazil to forge their own, unique Muslim cultural experience.

Eid Mubarak to everyone, in whatever language you speak, in whatever way you celebrate. You are my brothers and sisters and I love you for the sake of Allah. Now off to eat some flan...