Nightlife during a holy month? It’s becoming more of a thing in Southern California.
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. But it's also a time when Muslims lean into being more nocturnal. A growing crop of nighttime community events in Southern California now draw thousands of people who socialize and break their fasting until the wee hours of the morning as they pack Yemeni coffee shops, mosques and even binge TV marathons of Egyptian soap operas.
On a recent Friday night, around 10,000 people came together for SoCal Suhoor Fest, dubbed Muslim Coachella, for food, catching up with friends sans alcohol and delivering copious amounts of cheesy halal pickup lines. This year’s edition was held in the parking lot of a strip mall on Brookhurst Street in the heart of Anaheim’s Little Arabia.
“ Honestly, the nighttime aspect of Ramadan is bringing the community together. That's what Ramadan is all about, seeing family and friends that you haven't seen in months,” said Omar Oyoun, one of the organizers of SoCal Suhoor Fest. “The beauty of just seeing everyone awake right now, enjoying food, enjoying a quick laugh. You can't really get that anywhere else. You know it's crazy; it's just in Ramadan.”
These nighttime festivals are common in the Middle East during the holy month, and now, they’re slowly gaining steam in Southern California. Last year was the first time Suhoor Fest took place in Irvine — a concept born in Dearborn, Mich., which has the largest Arab population in America.
Sumaya Haq and her sisters drove in from Santa Clarita for “the halal food, the vibes, seeing all my Muslim brothers and sisters here.”
The 25-year-old Southern California native said she had never before seen community spaces like Suhoor Fest and wishes for more.
“ Supporting your local businesses is such a fun thing, so yeah, I wish we could see it outside of Ramadan, insha Allah,” she said.
Kia Addish-Parks grew up in Saudi Arabia, so Suhoor Fest is a familiar concept of having the typical daily routine changing to night.
“The night is like a festivity: you go out, you eat, you shop,” she said. “So I wanted to bring my daughter to experience that, you know. She was born and raised here.”
Yemeni coffeehouses like Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co. and Sana’a Cafe are other popular nighttime hangouts, especially among the younger crowds. In recent years, similar cafes have blossomed in Lake Forest, Hollywood, Fullerton and even Riverside as young Muslims look for spaces to socialize at night without the alcohol.
These spaces also serve as potential meeting grounds for significant others — a trend that’s been well documented on social media. In fact, this reporter — who was very clearly on assignment — was even hit up with a “$50,000 mahr and G-wagon” offer. (Mahr is a gift a husband gives a wife on their wedding day.)
In recent years, the Islamic Society of Orange County, known as the “mother mosque,” saw a growing need for cultural spaces. During the holy month, the mosque in Garden Grove hosts Ramadan night markets and the cafe on the premises, Barakah Cafe, is open until 2 a.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday.
Muslims throng the mosque for nighttime prayers, or Qiyam Al Layl. Muslims believe the nights of Ramadan carry a lot of blessings and pack mosques at night for prayers, so these community spaces are built around them.
Despite Islam arriving to America with the slave trade 400 years ago, the Muslim American cultural and social experience is still being developed, said Amir Mertaban, executive director at the Islamic Society of Orange County.
“ The second and third generation of Muslims here, we love farmers markets, we love coffee shops, we love hanging out at night, we love playing games or board games,” he said. “Trying to weave that into some sort of Islamic culture and trying to weave in Islam and bring Muslims together in that environment is really important to us.”
One of the main reasons to create these spaces, Mertaban said, is because some Muslim Americans don’t feel comfortable within the typical nightlife scene in SoCal, which, he said, is focused on music and alcohol.
“ With nightlife in particular, there's not a lot of outlets for Muslims to hang out and so we're relegated to someone's garage, someone's backyard, or the few coffee shops that are open late night,” he said. “What we've seen in SoCal specifically is this resurgence of this Muslim nightlife scene.”
This story was produced with support from the Round Earth Media program of the International Women’s Media Foundation.
