Local 375 members marked the annual Islamic celebration of Ramadan at a general membership meeting Jan. 31.

The event coincided with the swearing in of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375’s new leadership team, which will serve until 2003.

“The purpose of our observance of Ramadan was not only to recognize our Islamic brothers and sisters but also to celebrate the diversity within Local 375,” said Claude Fort, the new local president.

“By dedicating evenings to the heritage of the different groups in the local, sharing our cultures and gaining an appreciation for our differences, we hope to become more unified,” he said. Local 375’s Islamic Heritage Committee, chaired by Mohammed Mahmood Azam, organized the event.

Featured guest Aneela Khalid Arshed, author of “The Bounty of Allah,” discussed the religious and historic roots of the annual Ramadan observance, in which Moslems mark the ninth month of the Islamic calendar by fasting from dawn to sunset.

Ms. Arshed noted with dismay that racial and ethnic differences have caused bloodshed throughout the history of humankind. “Take away the religion, what remains is the human skin,” Ms. Arshed said. “Our central need in life is peace…. Peace is the highest form of happiness.”

Nouman Khan of the nationwide Islamic educational organization Tanzeem Islami, was the second speaker. The month of Ramadan, he said, recognizes that humans are spiritual as well as physical beings. “Without our yearning for a higher meaning, we are animals,” he said.