In the early days of December 1805, a handful of prominent politicians received formal invitations to join President Thomas Jefferson for a White House dinner.
The occasion was the presence of a Tunisian envoy to the United States, Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, who had arrived in the country just the week before, in the midst of Americas ongoing conflict with what were then known as the Barbary States.
And the reason for the dinners later-than-usual start was Mellimellis observance of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims in which observers fast between dawn and dusk. Only after sunset do Muslims break their fast with a meal, referred to as an iftar.
Jeffersons decision to change the time of the meal to accommodate Mellimellis observance of Ramadan has been seized on by both sides in the 21st-century debate over Islam more than 200 years later. Historians have cited the meal as the first time an iftar took place in the White House and it has been referenced in recent White House celebrations of Ramadan as an embodiment of the Founding Fathers respect for religious freedom. Meanwhile, critics on the far right have taken issue with the characterization of Jeffersons Dec. 9, 1805, dinner as an iftar.
Whatever Jefferson could have foreseen for the young countrys future, it appears the modern-day White House tradition of marking Ramadan with an iftar dinner or Eid celebration has come to an end.
Ramadan, which falls on the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, started on May 27 this year and ends at sundown Saturday. Muslims around the world will mark the end of the holy month by celebrating the holiday Eid al-Fitr, the feast of breaking of the fast.
For the first time in nearly two decades, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House recognizing it with an iftar or Eid celebration, as had taken place each year under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. In recent weeks, several former White House staff members told The Post they would usually begin planning an iftar months in advance and didnt anticipate the Trump White House could pull something off before the end of Ramadan.
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