Muslim Yalies balance school, faith for Ramadan

Yale Muslims are contemplating more than just the end of first semester and finals during the few weeks before winter vacation. They are also observing Ramadan, the Islamic holy month during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and abstain from sexual activity and smoking.

BRIAN HENDLER/NEWSMAKERS Muslims praying outside old Jerusalem during Ramadan.

"Difficult as it may seem to some people, I see the month as a gift," Saad Khanani, SM '02, said. "You feel so privileged because this is a month of mercy, forgiveness, and of getting closer to God." Khanani, president of the Muslim Students' Association, fasts during the day throughout the month-long holiday, which began on Mon., Nov. 27 and ends either on Mon., Dec. 25 or Tue., Dec. 26, depending on when the new moon is sighted. Khanani said there are about 40 to 50 undergraduates on campus who observe the holiday.

Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar, which is based on the cycles of the moon. The holiday moves up about 10 days every year on the Western calendar. Ramadan is significant because the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book, was first revealed to Muhammad during this month. Aside from fasting, Muslims try to read the entire Qur'an during Ramadan and must pray five times a day for that day's fast to have meaning.

Muslims go without eating from sunrise to sunset for several reasons. First, the fast sharpens one's awareness of God and acts as a reminder of the natural state in which all creatures were born. "Islam doesn't teach original sin, but rather original `innocence,' an inborn direct connection to the divine," Khanani said. Second, Muslims fast to strengthen self-control and, third, to increase their sympathy for those who go hungry every month.

The part about not eating is the most superficial part," Najah Farley, CC '03, a practicing Muslim, said. "The other part is about improving your actions and the work you do." Farley paraphrased a saying that guides her during Ramadan: "You're fasting to improve your actions. But if you're not improving your actions, there's no point in giving up your food or drink." She explained that it is at times when she turns down an invitation to join her friends for lunch that she thinks most about her faith and what she has done in her life.

Farley's days, like those of most who celebrate the holiday, begin at around 5:00 a.m.,when she wakes up, eats the pre-fast meal, and reads the Qur'an. She then goes back to sleep, rising again to go to classes. The prescribed prayers punctuate her day; at around 4:30 p.m. she breaks the fast by eating a date, a traditional Islamic practice. Many Muslim Association members break fast together in the basement of Bingham Hall.

Some students have questioned whether or not Yale Dining Services (YDS) should offer refunds to Muslim students for meals they do not eat. But Kanani said that YDS accommodates fasting students by providing food bags with cereal, milk, fruit, and juice in it. "During Ramadan, I cost the YDS a box of Frosted Flakes, a liter of milk, and some fruit every week in lieu of my missed breakfasts and lunches," he said.

Farley said that the Calhoun dining hall staff has always been helpful. "I told them that I was celebrating Ramadan and they said that I should e-mail them and tell them what food I wanted," she said. "But everybody's [dining hall] doesn't work like that. Different dining halls do different things. I'm glad Calhoun was accommodating."

When asked whether Ramadan interferes with his classes, Khanani said balancing both his faith and his schoolwork only really becomes difficult toward the end of the month, when he stays up the greater part of the night praying. "A holiday on Eid [the festival of breaking the fast] would also be appreciated," he said. "No one would like to go to class or take a test on Christmas, would they?" He added, though, that this year Eid falls during the winter vacation, so he will be able to celebrate at home in Karachi, Pakistan.

Unsurprisingly, many Muslim students have difficulty each year balancing religious obligations with school work. "I'm almost up until four or five everyday and then I just have to go to class at nine," Taimur Khan, SY '03, said. "Basically everything shifts into the night. I have to work during the night and sleep during the day."

For Farley, the real difficulty comes in waking up in the morning. "It is so hard to stay up late," she said. "So you have to weigh what's important: work or sleeping." And that's a quagmire all Yalies—Muslim or not—can relate to.

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