When the next new moon appears Saturday, Muslims around the world will celebrate the end of their month-long observance of Ramadan, with all-day festivities and feasts the following day.
Since the last moon cycle began Feb. 10, Muslims have abstained from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.
Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the year in Islam, celebrated because the Koran was both revealed and completed during the month. For many Muslims, the fasting is a special form of worship that exemplifies the occasion.
For the 10 to 15 Muslim students at the College who have been following this religious exercise, the experience has not been as difficult as it may sound.
"It's funny, a lot of people when you tell them about Ramadan they say, 'Oh, I'm so sorry,' but you're like, 'What are you so sorry about?'" said Omar Lari '95, who is a vice president of Al-Nur, the College's Muslim students' association. "Because back home when you're fasting with your family, at least mom tends to cook better food and stuff."
"Dinner is even better than usual," Lari said.
"Probably because you haven't eaten since morning," Al-Nur President Nadar Hebela '95 added.
Almost every evening around 5:30, Muslim students on campus meet in a conference room in Collis Center to break their fast and start what is, for some of them, the first meal of the day.
"Depending on whether or not you get up early enough in the morning before sunrise, which is around 4:30 or 5 o'clock, you eat a little snack. Some people do it, but I don't," Hebela said.
"So after you have that, most people go back to sleep. Others, stay up to pray. Then the sun rises. You fast. You can't eat. No drink, no water, no sex."
When the sun goes down, the fast is broken.
"Traditionally people do it with dates and milk, then they go to pray, and then they come back to eat their Collis food," Hebela said. "That's basically how things go."
"And if you're in a big city with mosques and stuff, often people go to pray in the mosque," he added.
But because of the lack of a religious edifice in the area, Muslim students tend to pray on their own, usually in their dorm rooms. On Fridays, most will try to get together to pray in Rollins Chapel at around 1:15 p.m.
Last Friday after prayers, Al-Nur sponsored a memorial service for the 60 Muslims who were recently killed in the Cave of the Patriarchs, a mosque in Hebron, Israelis-occupied West Banks.
Meanings of Ramadan
For some Muslims, the fasting is a form of worship.
"Since you give up a lot of things hopefully for God, fasting then is a symbol of your willingness to even give up those things that are permitted by God," Kashif Mahmood Ali '95 said.
The fasting is also an exercise in empathy.
"To help you feel closer to those who never get to eat anything," Ali said.
Lari said, "The main idea is that it's a different form of worship but it also generates empathy for those who are more needy."
Although Ramadan is a religious event, it is also a cultural tradition.
"Most people who don't pray, still fast. It's just one of those things," Hebela said.
Only pregnant women, diabetics and the elderly are exempted from the fasting, Lari said.
Yet even if a person is healthy and chooses not fast, there is no stigma against him or her, Lari said.
Stigma in Muslim countries
But Ali, who grew up in Pakistan, said in countries with a large Muslim population, there is some element of ostracism against those who fail to observe the fasting.
"The fasting is not supposed to be something different, it's just a more active form of worship," Lari said. "It's not a big deal."
Next weekend, members of the Muslim community will celebrate the end of Ramadan at the Woodstock, Vt. home of the Monsour family. The Egyptian family has been hosting this annual event for the last four years.
"They are gracious people who know that for people like us, who are away from home, we need a place to celebrate," Hebela said. "There are not many Muslims in the Upper Valley, so it is understandable that we all get together during holy days and in general."
