Muslims all around the world are currently celebrating Ramadhan, the Islamic month of fasting.
Each day, the observing Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
At the College, members of Al-Nur, Dartmouth's Islamic Society, have been meeting in Collis Student Center each night to break the day's fast in each other's company.
According to Kashif Ali '95, Ramadhan helps us "empathize with those that don't have anything to eat," he said. "The point is not just to hide in bed but to go about your normal activities and really feel what it is like if you don't have anything to eat."
Salmaan Siddiqui '97 said Ramadhan is not just about individuals fasting each day, but about Muslims in a community setting.
"Ramadhan is also a time for the Muslims to get together," he said. "It's an individual, yet communal thing."
In addition to not eating, Muslims are also expected to abstain from drinking, smoking, swearing and sex, according to Cenk Ergan '99.
Ergan said exemptions from the fasting period are made for the infirm, elderly and those that are traveling.
Najam Haider '97 said fasting each day is about "placing God above primal needs" and described the tradition as being an attempt to "refine yourself."
Ramadhan begins 11 days earlier every year because it is based on a lunar calendar.
"In winter it works out well because the days are short, but in a few years," he said, "it will be in the summer and we will have to fast until eight at night."
Ramadhan is 29 days in length. This year, it began on Jan. 9 and will end Feb. 8.
On the last night of the holiday there will be a grand feast, called Eid-Ul-Fitr, held to celebrate the end of Ramadhan.
Al-Nur, which has been bringing members of the Islamic community together for Ramadhan, has existed in its current form for six years.
"There had been Islamic societies in the past but they had faded in and out as students came and left," Haider said.
The majority of the group's membership is comprised of College students, a significant portion of whom are graduate students, he said.
