AZEL CREST, Ill., Nov. 22 — The scent of turkey, dressing and pound cake hung on the last flicker of

Scott Olson for The New York Times Roderick Bashir delivered a Thanksgiving prayer to Allah Thursday at his home in Hazel Crest, Ill., where Muslims, Christians and Jews gathered.

daylight.

Roderick and Gloria Bashir and their daughters, Samaiyah, 13, and Taahira, 11, waited until sunset, at 4:27 p.m. Then, after saying a prayer to Allah, they gathered around the dining room table with other relatives, Muslim, Christian and Jewish, offering thanks in their suburban Chicago home.

They praised God for his goodness, for life itself and for their blessings on this day of thanksgiving. But for Mr. and Mrs. Bashir, who are Muslim, the day was more than an observance of Thanksgiving. This year the holiday fell during Ramadan, a monthlong fast for Muslims during which they cannot eat before sunset.

With the sun gone and the family's fast broken, the Bashirs and their relatives proceeded with the annual carving of turkey, the pouring of gravy and the spooning of cranberry sauce. Mrs. Bashir has prepared dinner every Thanksgiving for 20 years, but this year it was delayed so they could keep with their religious beliefs and family tradition.

"We see it as Muslims, as an opportunity, given that most of our family members are not Muslims, to bring ourselves and Christians and other friends together on this day to celebrate in the spirit of thankfulness," said Mr. Bashir, 44, who has practiced Islam for 26 years. "For Muslims, that is not exclusive to Thanksgiving."

"We don't see this as a celebration necessarily, but an observance of a cultural norm in America that doesn't conflict with the Muslim belief in giving thanks to Allah," said Mr. Bashir, 44, a vice president of a union local of Service Employees International.

While some Muslim Americans believe that Thanksgiving conflicts with their religion, many, like the Bashirs, observe the holiday, saying that, of all the American holidays, Thanksgiving is most in harmony with the teachings of Islam.

"The spirit of Thanksgiving is probably the one celebration in the American calendar that really goes to the heart of Islam," said Safaa Zarzour, 37, principal of the Universal School, an Islamic school in Bridgeview, Ill. "The spirit of Thanksgiving represents the very spirit of Islam, that is to always and continually be thankful to God."

"Some Muslims will not recognize the tradition, meaning the ritual of Thanksgiving, because they fear that if they do so they will be inventing something new in their religion," said Mr. Zarzour, whose family planned dinner at a restaurant.

"Others feel that you create a holiday most of the time when you are feeling guilty about something," he added. "Many Muslims will not mark Mother's Day with a special anything because they feel that you are supposed to honor your mom every day of the year."

But other Muslim Americans view the holiday in much the same way as other Americans do. And so as turkeys were carved and another slice of pound cake or sweet potato pie found its way to a saucer, it was no different in the homes of many Muslim Americans on Thanksgiving Day, particularly given the difficulties the nation has faced since Sept. 11.

"I've had a special feeling of thankfulness given that Sept. 11 situation, whenever I am traveling or when I'm with my family," Mr. Bashir said. "I feel that it's a special time and I don't take it for granted as I have in the past."

Clyde El-Amin, a college administrator in Chicago who has been a Muslim for about 30 years, does not see a barrier between his faith and observance of the holiday.

"Most of the people I know who are Muslims are African-Americans who are indigenous Americans," said Mr. Amin, 53. "They don't have cultural barriers."

He added, "And they know doggoned well it's not the only day that we give thanks."

Mr. Amin said it was fortunate that Thanksgiving and Ramadan overlap, because "Ramadan is also a time of reflecting on a number of things, including how grateful we are to be to God."

Not a bite of his family's feast is eaten before someone has said a prayer and given thanks.

Even so, Mr. Amin said, the holiday, "in my mind, is not a religious holiday."

"My family just happens to be a God-conscious family, he said, adding that several religions are represented in his family. "We're not going to get together and not pray before we eat."

For Khalil Abdullah, 29, an elementary school teacher in Fort Worth, Thanksgiving also has to include football. Mr. Abdullah, his wife, Naimah, and their four sons spent the day at his mother-in-law's house in Dallas.

"But for me it goes deeper than it's just something that I've always done, than it's an American tradition," said Mr. Abdullah, who has been a Muslim for 10 years. "It's family. It's the spirit of thanksgiving, the spirit of being grateful to God for what he has given us all year. And like most Americans we will enjoy being with our family, good food and football."

"I just don't see why anyone would think that this is against Islam," Mr. Abdullah said. "But there are Muslims, and they certainly are not wrong, who tend to avoid celebrating any holiday that had not been practiced by Prophet Muhammad or in the Koran."

At the Bashir home, nearly a dozen relatives stood around a table spread with macaroni and cheese, turkey and all the trimmings, each person giving thanks for something. There was thanks for a new marriage, thanks for being a Muslim, and, from Sabreen McKamby, 7, thanks for "a roof over my head."

Samaiyah, the Bashirs' eldest daughter, said, "I'm thankful to have a mother who can cook."