A wooden carving with a curled arabesque pattern from a Syrian palace ceiling hangs in Rahim Akbar's Katy home, where he and his family will gather to break their Ramadan fast with fruits, Pakistani appetizers and other treats. A simpler panel points the direction to Mecca at the temporary building for his neighborhood mosque, Masjid Al-Aqsa, where area Muslims will meet for evening prayers and iftars, or community meals, during the month-long observance, which begins today. While mosque styles vary in America depending on local traditions and resources, there's a resurgence of interest in Islamic art, both as second and third-generation Muslims make efforts to connect to their roots and as mainstream design trends reflect Islamic motifs. "There is everything from importing traditional models of Islamic arts from Muslim-majority contexts to developing indigenous traditions here," said Omid Safi, Islamic studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Akbar has done makeovers for mosques in North Carolina and California, and individual pieces for homes, businesses like hookah shops and other organizations.
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