"The community is together, everyone is around the table... I just love it.

It was just past 8 p.m. The sun had set and evening prayer at the Islamic Center of New England was about to get under way. A feast of rice and lamb would follow. Desserts, too.

I love it, said Fatema Mataoui, watching the busyness. Children played. Grownups talked. Laughter ensued. The community is together, everyone is around the table... I just love it.

Muslims are observing Ramadan, the holiest time in the Islamic calendar, when the faithful fast from sunrise to sunset. Typically, the fast runs from 3:30 a.m. and lasts until 8:30 p.m. This year, Ramadan began May 26 and ends on Saturday.june 24.

Some of those gathered at the June 10 meal, called an Iftar dinner, said they face Ramadan with a little bit of nervousness.

I never know if Ill have the fortitude to do it, to fast every night, said Mobeen Gajee of Weymouth. But it always works out. Ive been fasting for Ramadan for almost 30 years and it seems to always work out.

Seventeen hours with nothing to eat or drink is a test of will for many. Sara Tariq, of Braintree, said that she tries to maintain her everyday routine during Ramadan.

The point is to keep the routine you have and on top of that, you fast, said Tariq. You keep the routine instead of sitting on your bed all day watching Netflix.

Mouaad Lebeche, the youth director at the mosque, said he, like many others, uses Ramadan as a time for self-improvement.

Every year, I find something I dont like about myself and I try to improve that, said Lebeche. I work to be a better person.

In addition to spiritual renewal and prayer, the month of Ramadan is also a time for Muslims to strengthen their relationships with God and the community. Many faithful say thats important especially under the Trump administration.

One effect of the election is that it pushed Muslims to reach out more to neighbors, said Fatima Amin, of Quincy, a student at University of Massachusetts-Boston. Ironically, it helped people know each other more. People are actually getting to know each other by forming real human relationships instead of just through the TV and Internet.

Gajee said that news coming from Trumps administration, like executive orders banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, has pushed him to focus more on acts of charity and outreach.

In some ways, you have a cloud hanging over your head wondering what the future holds, said Gajee, as his 3-year-old son, Mustafa, raced circles around him, giggling. But it makes you want to do more.

Sometimes, as with the June 10 dinner, the mosque holds interfaith events that bring together the community at-large. At the dinner, Quincy state Senator John Keenan sat next to Izhar Kazmi, the President of the Islamic Center of New England. Other non-Muslim South Shore residents joined the celebration. Lebeche said that he believes these types of events have made a difference.

Last year, I used to see people driving by, giving us the finger, Lebeche siad. Now, nothing. If anything, weve gone in the other direction.

For the worlds 1.6 billion Muslims, the month marks the revelation of the Koran to the prophet Mohammed. Kristina Brother is a new Muslim convert and as she observes her first Ramadan she said she feels accomplished at the end of every dawn-til-dusk fast.

I thought Id struggle with fasting, but every night I just think, I did it, I did what I intended to do. I feel good. said Brother.

Gajee said the end of Ramadan is bittersweet.

When it ends, you always kind of miss it, said Gajee.

Zane Razzaq may be reached at zrazzaq@ledger.com.

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Local Muslims observe Ramadan as a month of spirituality - The Patriot Ledger