Helping new Muslims celebrate Eid

New muslim converts Mike Ball and his daughter Isis Shultz-Ball, 8 at Masjid Hamza,Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in Houston. The story is about this new event, an Eid party (marking the end of Ramadan.) This is specifically for people who are converts to the faith. The imam starting it was from a Christian family and he converted to Islam. ( Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle ) less New muslim converts Mike Ball and his daughter Isis Shultz-Ball, 8 at Masjid Hamza,Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in Houston. The story is about this new event, an Eid party (marking the end of Ramadan.) This is ... more Photo: Karen Warren Photo: Karen Warren Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Helping new Muslims celebrate Eid 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

From the smiles and laughter and the energy bouncing off the mosque walls, no one would have guessed it was such a lonely day.

Dressed in vibrant garments and smelling of aromatic perfume - thousands of men, women and children flooded into the mosque to celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr - marking the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadan.

For newly converted Abdullah Oduro, the spirit in the mosque made the then 20-year-old ecstatic. The morning began with a congregational prayer, then the sermon and finally the hundreds of hugs and smiling faces yelling, "Eid Mubarak!" or "blessed Eid."

But just as they filed in, the thousands of Muslims made their way out - off to their homes to open presents, enjoy time with family and indulge in a feast of homemade delicacies.

Staring into the now empty mosque, Oduro felt very alone.

"I went home to an empty house," said Oduro, now 35 and a visiting minister for the city's mosques.

Oduro, like many other new Muslims, was the only convert to Islam in his Christian family. With nobody to celebrate with, he dragged himself back to work, concluding the holiday with a quiet TV dinner.

"Eid is like the Christmas of Islam," said Isa Parada, a Salvadoran-American convert and educational director at Masjid Sabireen, a mosque in Stafford. The holiday falls on Sunday this year, and it's one of only two yearly celebrations in the Islamic faith, the other occurring at the time of Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca. (While the holiday technically is Sunday, it actually begins at sunset the day prior.)

"It took me a few years to really understand the concept of Eid," said Parada, also 35, who converted when he was 19. "I sensed that the other Muslims were happy and excited, but I felt like I was kind of on the outside looking in."

That was 15 years ago. Today, both converts enjoy the festivities of Eid with their wives and children, but the pangs of depression from their first experiences still linger.

That's why this year, Oduro, Parada and several other converted Muslims will host Houston's first-ever Eid festival for Muslim converts on Sunday.

"We want to let them feel the spirit of what Eid really is," said Oduro.

Parada recalls fond memories of Christmas mornings, waking up early with his siblings to open gifts. "I just want to bring that spirit back for my kids," he said.

Catering to the mostly all-American new Muslim demographic, the festival will take on the look of a Christmas party meets Fourth of July celebration complete with barbecue, hot dogs, football, contests and gifts.

For Mike Ball and his family, Sunday will be a new experience. It's their first Eid.

"I don't have any expectations. Just hoping to be surprised actually," said Ball, a bookstore manager who with his wife converted to Islam eight months ago.

For his two young children, a moonwalk, sports, face painting and gifts await them. For 36-year-old Ball and his wife, a sense of belonging.

Ball is among a growing number of converts to Islam in the Houston area. But despite the group's continuous growth, the city lacked a structured program to integrate new Muslims into the greater Muslim community for years.

"There's a lack of understanding and education of the new Muslim phenomenon," said Oduro. The phenomenon, which he experienced first hand, begins with a blast of spirituality and community celebration as a convert embraces his new faith, and then a quick relapse back to regular life.

"A new convert will get a thousand hugs at the mosque when they enter Islam, but when they get home, no one is there to educate them," he said. Lack of family support can add to the strain.

In 2010, after earning a bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, Oduro wanted to address the problem.

He created the KnewU class, a weekly initiative at Masjid Hamza - a Mission Bend mosque - that teaches new Muslims and non-Muslims about the basics of Islam, while still encouraging them to be proud of their American roots. It also allowed converts to network with one another through bimonthly potlucks. The Eid festival is their newest venture.

"I'm really excited about this Eid!" said Ana Turner, 26, as she helped fill gift bags for Sunday's festival.

A Mexican-American, Turner converted to Islam last summer, and she's hoping this Eid will be far better than last year's.

"We actually missed the Eid prayer last year," she said regretfully. Instead, she went out to lunch with her husband Russell Turner and they enjoyed their first mid-day meal together in 30 days.

This year, the newlyweds will attend Sunday's new Muslim Eid festival at Masjid Sabireen. "There's nothing more American than barbecue and football," said the Spring Branch ISD high school teacher, laughing.

Russell, a 35-year-old Army veteran from Alabama and the only Muslim convert in his family, has yet to attend an "American" Eid gathering since his nine years being Muslim. In fact, before he was married, his personal Eid tradition consisted of hopping solo from mosque to mosque, experiencing the different cultural foods.

He hopes to see more initiatives for converts and new Muslims in the future.

"It is very badly needed to have an American-dominant presence within all mosques in America," he said, "because some of us have a rough road coming into this."

safiya.ravat@chron.com