Thinking on an empty stomach
by Mindy Messenger
The Daily, October 19, 2004
Picture yourself seated at your favorite desk waiting for the first class of your day to begin. The seductive scent of a mocha wafts by. A classmate sits down next to you and immediately removes a bagel from crumpled paper and begins to spread cream cheese on it. Your stomach rumbles. You haven't eaten since five in the morning and you won't eat again until after six that evening.
But this isn't about food, this is about God.
Ramadan, which began Friday night with the sighting of the new moon, is the holy month where Muslim students at the UW will abstain from food, drink and sensual pleasures from sunrise to sunset.
Wearing typical tennis shoes, jeans, a pink zippered hoodie, and a black head scarf wrapped carefully to cover her hair—Tera is just another UW student planning to balance studying with the daily fasting of Ramadan this year.
This will be Tera's second observance of Ramadan as a Muslim since she converted a year and a half ago. Tera, a UW sophomore, asked to not have her last name published because her parents are strict Christians and would be upset to discover she converted.
"You just want to cry because you're so hungry, and you're so tired, and you have so much to do," she said, reflecting on her experience fasting last year. "But it's worth it because when you break your fast at the end of the day, just knowing what you did all day is amazing."
A common reaction most non-Muslims have when told about the month of day-long fasts is that they don't understand how Muslims are able to fast for the entirety of Ramadan.
"I hate it when people tell me, 'Oh, I could never do that.'" said Sarah Levy, a recent convert to Islam. She has recently entered her second year towards a Master's in the school of Social Work. "Anyone can do it if they just put their mind to it."
In an effort to create a better understanding of the holy month, Tera has talked some acquaintances into fasting for one day during Ramadan.
"Everyone I've talked into fasting all say, 'Oh, that was totally easy!'"
When reminded that Tera has an entire month versus a day of fasting, she said, "Yeah, but by the end of the month, you only have eleven and a half hours, whereas right now we have to fast for twelve and a half hours. That one hour makes a big difference."
Readjusting one's body to fulfilling the demands of school or work without food during the day is not the only life-style change Muslims have to make during Ramadan. In order to eat breakfast before sunrise, some Muslims will wake up at 5 o'Clock in the morning—or earlier.
Rather than going back to bed after waking up so early to eat, Tera will stay awake until her first class of the day and study for two or three hours.
"I find it's best then because I'm full and I can concentrate on studying even though it's early in the morning. I actually think that during Ramadan last year I studied more and it worked out great. You can't eat, so you need to find something to do with your time." said Tera.
Tera is not the only student who has experienced this perk to Ramadan.
"It turns out that I do better when it's Ramadan than outside of Ramadan." said Mohammad Sarhan, president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA). "When I was going to Shoreline Community College, I took a physics class. I remember spending less time studying for it, but when it came to the tests, I understood more."
Muslims believe that all knowledge comes from Allah (God), and that everyone must go through the means of obtaining that knowledge. Sarhan explained that even if a student studied less for an exam than another, if that student dedicated his/her time to prayer and meditation on Allah, then the obtainment of knowledge will be easier.
But there is more to Ramadan than simply fasting from food, abstaining from earthly pleasures, and attending prayer services. Inner reflection, self-control and focusing on one's relation to God are equally important. A significant part of the holy month is also dedicated to reading as much of the Qur'an as possible during the 30 days.
Aside from reading the QurĠan in private, Muslims attending prayer services at their local mosque will hear each of the 30 chapters read aloud by the end of Ramadan.
When asked how much of the Qur'an he completed for Ramadan last year, Sarhan laughed sheepishly.
"You're supposed to get through the Qur'an at least once, right? I'm gonna do that this year," he said.
Sarhan was unable to complete the sacred text last Ramadan because he had read it in its original language, Classical Arabic.
"This summer, I was actually studying in Yemen, so my Arabic improved a lot," he clarified.
"A lot of people think that Ramadan is kind of hard because you have to fast and you can eat from [morning] to [evening]. And you can't sleep with your wife or your husband. So everyone thinks it's like, 'Oh, I wish this month is over'." said Sarhan.
However, he was quick to add that Muslims view Ramadan in the complete opposite from this.
"When the month ends, we're actually waiting for it to come again. A lot of us here in the MSA have been excited for Ramadan for two months now. We've been really looking forward to it."
For Ramadan, the MSA will be holding daily Iftars (break-the-fast meals) and Magrib prayer each school day in the upper cafeteria of the HUB. The Fast-A-Thon fundraiser is tentatively scheduled for November 4th. These events are open to the UW community. For more information, visit the MSA website at http://students.washington.edu/msauw/