During this holy month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world are fasting in daylight hours and breaking the fast at sunset for their one daily meal.

In recent years, a number of Muslims have joined UU communities and some have even become UU ministers.

During the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Abdul Tamim joined a Soul Matters group on Zoom and made friends at UUSS. His family had come to California on a special immigrant visa in 2014 after he had worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. (pictured below)

During one Ramadan, I asked Abdul what drew him, as a Muslim, to UUism.  He said it was the 4th Principle: “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.”  Last fall Abdul moved his family to Maryland for a job and went to Cedar Lane UU Church. He officially joined it and now serves on their Environmental Justice Committee.

Not every Muslim who immigrates from Afghanistan and visits us may decide to become a UU, but each one whom we have welcomed has returned our kindness.

Recently, our members have been helping two families and one individual man who escaped from Taliban violence after the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan. The individual man had fled to Brazil and walked all the way to California.  He called our office because he’d been told that UUs were kind and respectful.  He has gotten a ride to a few Sunday services. He likes our spiritual inclusivity and our sanctuary banners. His wife is back home, in hiding; he’s worried, but first he needs to obtain legal asylum, and a job.

We’re helping a total of 5 adults and 13 children!  Our volunteers and donors have been tutoring and teaching English.  We’re giving rides to school, work, appointments, and youth cricket practice.

Our members have slogged through bureaucracies to arrange medical appointments, school enrollments, county human assistance, federal document applications, etc. We’ve helped with utility and rent expenses and attorney and court fees for visa and asylum representation. It’s a lot!

You could say this is one way of honoring Ramadan even if we aren’t Muslim.

It’s a way of respecting human worth and kinship.

It’s a way of helping our neighbors.

And along the way, we are making friends.  If you’d like to know more, please talk to Susan Jones, Meg Burnett, or me.