Millions of Muslims in the U.S. celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month marked by fasting from dawn to sunset, with Eid al-Fitr, landing on the last weekend in March this year under the Islamic lunar calendar.
Robert McCullough said his Ramadan routine involved waking up around 3 a.m. to eat, drink and read the Quran.
He would then go back to sleep for a few hours before waking up to pray fajr, the first of the five daily prayers in Islam.After fajr, McCullough would sleep a little longer before waking up to start his day, which meant getting to work and then more Quran reading, prayers and sometimes listening to an Islamic lecture or doing a similar worship-based activity during the day.He would break his fast with dates and water, say his prayers and then “chill” for the rest of the night.
McCullough’s routine is not too different from that of many other Muslims who observed Ramadan, except that McCullough was doing so at Danville Correctional Center, some 140 miles south of downtown Chicago.He is just one of hundreds of Muslims within the Illinois Department of Corrections who is practicing his religion while serving time. At Danville, there are around 160 practicing Muslims.
For McCullough, practicing Islam and observing Ramadan with others while in prison is a blessing.“It’s a great feeling to be around people who believe the same thing that I believe and who want to see me grow in Islam,” he said. “It means a lot to me that I’m not doing it on my ow.
