Staying strong through Ramadan

As dusk falls on Oct. 25, a husky voice escapes from the mosque replica that serves as an alarm clock on the mantel of junior Margaret Khan's living room. The lyrical call to prayer cues her to bring a small date to her lips, and she tastes a sticky sweetness. This date, symbolic of the one with which the prophet Muhammad broke his fast centuries ago, begins her first meal of the day since dawn.

Margaret Khan and her family are part of the quarter-million-strong Muslim community in the Washington, D.C. area that fasted during the 30 days of Ramadan, which ended last week, according to Adil Khan, a priest at the Muslim Community Center (MCC) in Silver Spring. During the holy month of Ramadan, she and other Muslim Blazers can neither eat nor drink while the sun shines.

Obligatory fasting is one of Islam's five pillars, which form the foundation of Muslim life. Ramadan is a month of atonement and for most Muslims, participating in this event serves as an affirmation of faith.

Resisting physical temptations

At 5:15 a.m., sophomore Amina Goheer awakens from her slumber to stare out the window at the darkened sky. Ramadan is in full swing, so she has to get an early start on her routine of praying, fasting and reflecting. She walks into the kitchen and stuffs herself with suhoor, a meal eaten before dawn. As the sun rises, she says a prayer that officially begins her fast.

A few hours later at school, Info Flow blares as Goheer tries to suppress the familiar hunger pangs. She knows that she has to endure many more hours until her fast ends.

For Goheer, who runs for Blair's cross-country team, fasting becomes a physical limitation. The intense workout demands not only an ample diet of carbohydrates during the day but also a regular supply of water, which she cannot drink during her fast.

As a result, she does only the warm-up at practice during Ramadan. She has no time to run after her fast ends because of religious obligations and homework.

Opting out of fasting

Starting with adolescence, praying and fasting become obligations. Although Muslim children learn religious practices in Sunday school programs held at their mosques, decisions, such as whether to fast, center around the home, says Farhana Shah, the acting principal of Sunday school at the MCC.
In addition, there are several exceptions to fasting. At lunch, junior Zahra Bah brings a spoonful of her noodle soup to her mouth. When the last noodle disappears, she says that she opts out of fasting every day because she has diabetes. In general, the elderly, the sick, travelers, pregnant women and nursing mothers may not fast during Ramadan, says Parvez Uppal, the Public Relations director at the MCC.

Even if these exceptions do not apply, American Muslims can be influenced by the non-Muslim society in the U.S. Junior Dialika Camara doesn't look down on the able-bodied Muslims she sees opting out of fasting. Rather, since many non-fasting surround them, it is easy to forget their religious obligations and to indulge in their desires to eat, Camara believes.

Beyond the material

The Muslims who fast are reminded of the plight of the poor. Senior Samira Farah leans slightly on the phone as she envisions the homeless who wander the streets. She feels grateful during Ramadan because while she gets to break her fast at sunset, the poor are always fasting - during the day and the night.

Fasting entails abstaining not only from food but also from social pleasures or bad habits, says Waqar. During Ramadan fasting, Muslims are also expected to refrain from smoking, drinking and sex. Farah feels that breaking bad habits are harder than actually fasting itself. She has to force herself to neither curse nor argue during Ramadan.

This strict behavior during Ramadan focuses on moral cleansing to improve Muslims' relationships with God, according to Uppal. "Fasting is the purest form of prayer. It's avoiding things that are not healthy for your soul," Uppal says.

Prayer is an essential component of Ramadan. Muslims regularly recite five daily prayers for the remembrance of Allah. At the end of the last prayer, Muslims recite a special Ramadan prayer from the Qur'an called the Taraweeh prayer, the Night Prayer, which begs Allah for a reward for faithfulness, Adil Khan says. During Ramadan, Muslims typically pray daily from 8:15 p.m. to 10 p.m., he says.

The Taraweeh prayer is optional, but the fact that her grandmother taught her this prayer and still prays with her motivates Margaret Khan to continue doing it. As she kneels down to pray, she begins to murmur one-thirtieth of the Qur'an. By the end of Ramadan, she will have recited the entire scripture.

With the increased prayer during Ramadan, it is often difficult for high-school Muslims to balance homework with commitments to Islam. Camara reads at least half of a chapter of the Qur'an nightly despite the abundance of reading from her four AP classes. "I can't neglect my duties to read the Qur'an," she says.

Towards the end of Ramadan, the connection with God becomes even more important. The last ten days of Ramadan are a time of special spiritual importance because everyone asks mercy from God, Adil Khan says. The 27th day of Ramadan is particularly holy because on that day, the prophet Muhammad received the Qur'an from God, he says. Waqar, like most Muslim students in the U.S., prays all night and does not go to school in the morning.

Margaret Khan and her family devote this entire day to prayer and reading the Qur'an without any TV or music. Her uncle captivates the family by telling stories from the Qur'an.

Celebrating the end of Ramadan

Ramadan ends with the festival of Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast), one of the most important celebrations in Islam, which began on Nov. 4 this year and lasted for three days. During Eid al-Fitr, a bustle of action erupts as people dress in their finest clothes, adorn their homes with lights and decorations, give treats to children and enjoy visits with friends and family.

On Eid al-Fitr, the aroma of Goheer's mother's special dessert wafts through Goheer's home. Her family members decorate themselves with henna, traditional cosmetics that are tattooed onto the skin.

Meanwhile, Margaret Khan's family buys a whole cow. Her family has a halal butcher, who adheres to Muslim purity laws, cut up the sections to donate to poor families.

For junior Nilam Hussain, Ramadan serves its purpose because at the end, she feels peaceful and purified. Despite the stricter Muslim codes during Ramadan, she believes that she stays strong and believes that her fellow Muslims should too. "If you're stronger in other ways, you can be strong in this," she says.