Lawmaker Observes Ramadan in His Office, Where 'You Can’t Hate Up Close'

— -- Rep. Dan Kildee worked around the clock when he first ran for Congress in 2012 — a grueling schedule his staff had to match.

So the Michigan Democrat was surprised when he realized that one of his Washington, D.C., staffers, Ghada Alkiek, was keeping up while fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“It’s, like, 18-hour days and, at one point we said we have to try this,” Kildee, 57, said in an interview Monday.

Kildee and several non-Muslim staffers fasted with her for one day of Ramadan that year, not eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset.

They have continued the tradition in Washington, and Kildee’s entire office fasts with Alkiek, now a staff assistant, for one day of Ramadan, a month when adherents strive to purge their sins and cleanse their spirit.

“It’s something we kind of look forward to now,” he said. “It’s a good way to understand one another, to at least take a moment to experience the ritual.”

His staff awoke just before 4 a.m. Monday — the second longest day of the year, Kildee noted — and shared photos of their breakfasts in an email chain that continued throughout the day. Staffers shared words of encouragement and videos about the meaning of Ramadan.

Kildee and Alkiek said the ritual has brought the office closer together.

“We’re counting down the hours together,” she said. “It's really special to know that your whole team is fasting with you.”

She hosted Kildee’s office at her home Monday evening for “iftar,” with roughly 40 people breaking their fast with dates, soup and a full meal.

For Kildee, who represents the Flint area’s sizable Arab-American community in Congress, the tradition has taken on an added significance during the 2016 election cycle, in which presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump has called for a temporary Muslim immigration ban and voiced support for profiling Muslims after the San Bernardino, California, and Orlando terrorist attacks.

“You can’t hate up close,” Kildee said of Trump’s “ignorance.”

“When you get to know somebody,” he added, “you realize how similar we are.”