California lawmakers and Muslim community members gather at the Capitol to celebrate Ramadan

Jenavieve Hatch
Updated ·2 min read
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Lawmakers and Muslim community members gathered Monday evening to commemorate the first iftar — the sunset meal breaking Ramadan’s daily fast — at the Capitol Rotunda since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ramadan, a month of fasting and spiritual renewal for Muslims, started on March 23. The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) hosted the event with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, who did not attend. The Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (AAPI) helped launch the occasion in 2005.

Muslim lawmakers, Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, and Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, spoke alongside CAIR members and other elected officials. Senators Dave Cortese, D-Santa Clara, and Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, also attended, as did West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero, and the vice mayors of Folsom and Elk Grove.

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, speaks to the crowd gathered during the Ramadan Iftar on Monday, April 10, 2023, at the state Capitol. Ramadan, which began on March 23, is the Islamic holy month of self-discipline, charity, fasting, and spiritual renewal. Muslims end their daily fast after sunset with a meal known as iftar.
State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, speaks to the crowd gathered during the Ramadan Iftar on Monday, April 10, 2023, at the state Capitol. Ramadan, which began on March 23, is the Islamic holy month of self-discipline, charity, fasting, and spiritual renewal. Muslims end their daily fast after sunset with a meal known as iftar.

Essayli and Wahab made history in November: He is the first Muslim American to be elected to the California Assembly. She is the first Afghan-American ever elected to public office in the United States, and the first Muslim American elected to the California Senate.

“I think it’s only fitting that we have the first (Muslim) assemblymember and senator here at the same time,” said Essayli, who met Wahab for the first time Monday evening.

“A man and a woman, and a Republican and a Democrat. This is a testament to the diversity of the Muslim community. We are not a monolith — we are diverse ethnically, ideologically, and geographically. We’re a very diverse community.”

Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, speaks to the crowd gathered during the Ramadan Iftar on Monday, April 10, 2023, at the state Capitol. Ramadan, which began on March 23, 2023, is the Islamic holy month of self-discipline, charity, fasting, and spiritual renewal. Muslims end their daily fast after sunset with a meal known as iftar.
Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, speaks to the crowd gathered during the Ramadan Iftar on Monday, April 10, 2023, at the state Capitol. Ramadan, which began on March 23, 2023, is the Islamic holy month of self-discipline, charity, fasting, and spiritual renewal. Muslims end their daily fast after sunset with a meal known as iftar.

The two legislators could not be more politically diverse. Essayli, a southern California conservative, recently tried to pass a “pro-parent” bill that would have required schools to report a student’s gender identity to their parents. The bill was effectively killed on Monday in the Assembly Education Committee. Essayli also proposed a bill that would end universal vote-by-mail in the state, which didn’t get past the Assembly Elections Committee.

Wahab is a progressive Bay Area Democrat and product of the foster care system who drew early comparisons to a fellow young, progressive woman of color, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when she ran for Congress in 2020. Wahab recently took heat from some Indian Americans for Senate Bill 403, which would ban caste-based discrimination in the state.

Wahab, like Essayli, spoke of the Muslim community’s strength being its diversity.

“We do look different,” she said. “Some wear hijab and some don’t. Some fast and some don’t. The diversity in this room represents that.”

Ramadan ends at sunset on April 20.