Students spend portion of summer celebrating Ramadan

Without thinking, sophomore Rand Alazzeh opens her refrigerator door and grabs a snack to eat. Usually this would be a nonchalant, everyday activity, but this month is different. She hesitates, putting the food back into the fridge and closing the door, reminding herself to wait until the evening. It is June 6, the first full day of Ramadan.

Ramadan is an Islamic holiday celebrated in late summer in the ninth month of the lunar calendar. This holiday is observed as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It is marked by prayer, charity and fasting, which occurs from dawn to sunset, for 30 days. Rand celebrates this holiday every year along with her friends and family.

“You fast from sunrise to sunset in order to appreciate everyday things that people in poverty do not have like food and water,” Rand said. “To me, it’s a reality check. I sacrifice things that I am used to every day, and I am reminded that some people live like this every day.”

Stomach rumbling, Rand reluctantly checks the clock. It is only 1 p.m. She sits down and pleads for time to go more quickly. She tells herself that there are only a few more hours left, sighs and stands to go find something to do.

Ramadan could be celebrated for a variety of reasons.

“You view things more positively,” Rand said. “Since you just spent a month deprived of food and water, it keeps you from doing everyday things. Now that it’s ended, you are happier.”

Those who fast during Ramadan break their fasting twice a day. The first time occurs at sunset or, as it is officially called, iftar. The next time fast is broken is when it is time for suhoor, which is a meal that occurs early in the morning.

For sophomore Nada Bayazid, participating in Ramadan is a celebration shared among family and friends with special traditions. She spends iftar meals alongside kith as they prepare a meal together.

“For iftar, we usually have a really big meal and we usually invite people over all the time during Ramadan because it is more fun,” Nada said. “For suhoor, we wake up around 3:30 a.m. and we eat anything that can stop the hunger.”

Nada started celebrating Ramadan along with her family when she was 11. Although the average age to start fasting is 12, some people, such as Rand, participated when they were much younger.

“I started celebrating Ramadan at around 7 years old,” Rand said. “Usually for kids you start later, but I saw my older cousins participating and copied them.”

Nada said some younger children who want to participate in fasting for Ramadan may wait a few hours instead of going the whole day without eating or drinking. She also said fasting is more than just not eating. It teaches her to be grateful.

“I think I am more grateful for all of the food we have,” Nada said. “We fast for all of these days and we have all for this food and we are grateful for what we have.” According to Dictionary.com, fasting is defined as “abstaining from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance.”  Rand’s mother, Nadia Alazzeh, said the biggest struggle for her would be the fact that she could not be as physically active as before when she was fasting. Her daughter has found her own challenges with fasting.

“You would expect hunger to be a struggle, but not being able to take a drink of water is the hardest,” Rand said. “Also, not being able to go swimming in the heat or going to the gym [is difficult], stuff that you would usually take for granted.”

Also, when Ramadan overlaps with the school year, students celebrating the holiday face new challenges. For Rand, in past years, it was difficult to refrain from eating during the school day, but her self-control has grown with time.

“I did fast during school, it was hard at first but, since Ramadan was at its end in the beginning of the school year, it was okay,” Rand said. “I would sit in the library and read but, as I got older, I would sit with my friends in the cafeteria and talk.”

To pass the time more quickly, she focuses on other things to keep her minds off the fasting. She will go to the movies or hang out with friends. Rand also has an additional tip for getting through a long day.

“Smelling food is just as good as eating it, in my opinion, so smell everything tasty,” she said.

Although there are challenges getting through a month of fasting, for Rand and Nada, Ramadan is part of their culture. Adults of the community, such as Nada’s father, Bassam Bayazid, have celebrated all of their life. Bassam said he does not struggle with it because he has celebrated for so long.

“We are so used to it, so it’s absolutely normal to us,” Bassam said. “I, personally, don’t face any difficulty; I don’t even feel the hunger or the thirst. I might feel a little tired, because of the lack of nutrition, [but the fasting] becomes a habit.”

Ramadan helps people improve themselves by challenging them to practice stymieing bad habits and remembering gratuity and compassion. It, according to Bassam, is a “boot camp” that should carry one through the rest of the year.

“Ramadan is a training period for you to cleanse your body, cleanse your mind, cleanse your thoughts and your tongue. During the month of Ramadan, it’s no
t only fasting, but it’s also abstaining from saying bad things,” Bassam said. “It’s a training period for you to become a better human being.”