Sept. 2 - Ambassador Roos recently hosted Muslim Ambassadors in Japan at his home for an Iftar dinner. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until dusk as an act of patience, spirituality, humility, and submission to God. Muslims celebrate Iftar, the breaking of the fast, at sunset with family and friends.

I had not seen many of our guests all summer, so I was happy to greet them as they arrived at the Ambassador's residence. While waiting for the sun to set, we talked about their families and their activities over the summer.

At 6:17 p.m., the Imam called people to prayer with a beautiful musical chant. Even though I do not understand Arabic, I enjoyed listening to his strong melodic voice.

The guests then moved to the Ambassador's great room where we broke the fast with dates, water, fruit juice, soup and yogurt. We then helped ourselves to a variety of dishes including beef, chicken and fish, which had been prepared in accordance with Muslim dietary customs. My hometown in California has a very large Iraqi population, and I enjoy eating Middle Eastern food. Therefore, I was very glad to see dishes I love such as hummus and baba ghanouj on the menu.

Muslim Americans constitute a very diverse community. The majority of Muslim- Americans are immigrants or the children of immigrants from South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. However many African-Americans in the United States are Muslims too.

As I looked around the room that night, I saw guests from over 50 countries who were conversing animatedly in English, Arabic and French. I realized that America's large Muslim population reflects the tremendous diversity of the global Islamic community.

Until next time,

Jim

For more information, see this State Department publication: "Being Muslim in America"