The alarm goes off. Sumerra Khan, deprived of sleep and hidden beneath the thick covers on her bed, lazily swings her arms across her body and swats at the top of the clock. The annoying sound is silenced, but her day is just beginning. Without the buzzing of the alarm, no one could tell that it is time to wake up, let alone to start the day. It’s still pitch black outside, and the silence is nearly as deafening as the alarm.

“A couple more minutes,” she thinks to herself as she tries to salvage some remnants of sleep. “Just a couple more minutes.”

But then a blood-curdling scream comes from the kitchen. It’s her mom yelling her name, bugging her to get up as she prepares breakfast for the two of them. She pulls the covers down to her neck and turns her head to her enemy (known as the alarm clock): it reads 4:30 a.m. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she thinks to herself as she musters the strength to get out of bed.

Sumerra gets up and makes the unceremonious trek to her bathroom. After brushing her teeth, she walks down the long hallway connecting her bedroom and the kitchen, where she plops down on a seat and shoves any edible substances in sight down her throat, knowing that for most of the day she can have neither food nor water.

For Sumerra, a biology major and recent graduate of the University of San Francisco, this is just a typical morning during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

Muslims fast during Ramadan because it is believed that the first revelations of the Qur’an were sent from Allah and given to Prophet Muhammad during this time. Therefore, it is the holiest time for
all Muslims.

Another purpose of Ramadan is for Muslims to better sympathize with those who are homeless or underprivileged, and to be more appreciative of the blessings in their lives.

“Allah ordained fasting so that Muslims can attain the consciousness of Allah,” says Aijaz Patel, an urban studies major at San Francisco State. “Ramadan also unites the community and increases the bond that we have, and to sympathize with the poor. I feel the hunger that my Muslim brothers and non-believers are feeling.”

“It makes me think to myself that if people can live like this every day, then I should be able to do it for a couple of hours,” Sumerra says. “I think fasting itself has many benefits and encourages concentration, motivation and good behavioral traits, such as self-discipline, self-control, self-restraint and patience.”

There are roughly 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, representing about 20 percent of the world’s population. In the United States, there are about 10 million Muslims, representing only 3 percent of the population. Fewer people observe Ramadan in the U.S. than in countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, which have much larger Muslim populations. This creates widespread misconceptions of Islamic religious practices in the U.S.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, when Muslims fast during daylight hours between sunrise and sunset. During this time, Muslims are supposed to put more effort into practicing the teachings of Islam and refraining from lying, cheating, greed, lust and gossip. Furthermore, Muslims are to abstain from both eating food and drinking liquids. “Fasting during Ramadan is one of the most exciting times of the year for Muslims,” says Sumerra. “There is a greater sense of family and community during the month of Ramadan while fasting. It’s a time to test your faith. I think Ramadan brings out the good in people. Fasting makes you experience hunger, which is something that we’ve become unfamiliar with. It makes you realize what the less fortunate experience and encourages charity.”

But fasting is difficult. Depending on the year, Muslims are to fast anywhere from ten to fourteen hours per day for thirty days. This year during Ramadan, sunrise occurred around roughly 5:30 a.m. and sunset occurred around 7:30 p.m., so Muslims were fasting for over thirteen hours a day from September 1 to 30. And since Ramadan arrived on the cusp of summer and the beginning of fall, there were several days where it was blazing hot, making it harder to go on without water. On top of that, the Islamic calendar is based on a lunar calendar, which is ten days shorter than the Roman calendar everyone follows. This means that in a couple of years, Ramadan will stake its claim during the summer.

“Fasting is difficult for everyone, but everyone’s just trying to balance it out with everything else they’ve got going on,” says Aijaz. “It is a struggle, but just living in America, everyone’s very accommodating and very understanding. I’ll tell my boss that I’m fasting, and immediately he’s much softer on me. The instructors, they understand that if I’m sleeping in class or daydreaming, they understand that it’s the time of Ramadan. So everyone is very accommodating in that aspect.”

The five pillars of Islam are magnified during this time as well: believing that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is his prophet, praying five times per day, fasting between sunrise and sunset, giving to charity, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

For Muslim students, life goes on along with Ramadan because they have to fast while going to school, work and taking care of other personal matters, which makes fasting even harder to accomplish Many Muslim students may not realize that it can be easier to fast in Islamic countries than in the U.S., as accommodating as people may be here.

“It might definitely be harder, but I think they’re getting more joy out of it because of the challenge and because you’re celebrating your own identity in America,” says Shaikh Aladdin Albakri.

According to the Imam, in Islamic countries, schools and businesses close down at certain points throughout the day so that everyone can make their five daily prayers. Furthermore, these institutions close down early so that everyone can make it home on time to break their fast.

The elderly and those who are sick or pregnant are exempt from having to fast. But those who can mentally and physically handle the challenge are more than welcome to. There is no exact age when a Muslim is to start fasting, so it usually depends on the parents and whether they feel that their child is ready or not. Generally, the parents try to get their kids’ feet wet by fasting occasionally when their child is in elementary or middle school.

Faizal Mohammed, an accounting major at San Francisco State, said that was how he got used to fasting at a very young age. “Every year, it became harder and harder and harder, but it’s nothing new for [Muslims].” Faizal also noted how his non-Muslim friends talked about how they felt fasting was a bit too extreme and radical and noted how they could never handle it, but Faizal feels that fasting is a way to control your desires during Ramadan.

His brother Ibraheem, an accounting and information systems major at SFSU, referenced how fasting during his high school years was the worst because he was on the school’s soccer team, so breaks
were mostly spent wandering around and trying not to think about water.

When Sumerra is at school late at night, she makes sure to bring several snacks with her, and then breaks her fast during class, or if she doesn’t bring anything with her, she hurries to buy some things from the local market and rushes back to school. She also noted how fasting would begin to take a toll on her body at times because she would be up until midnight or later doing homework, and then have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. the next day to do it all again.

The breaking of the fast is called the “Iftar.” During this time, Muslims recite a small verse, and then follow through by eating a date for its vast nutritional value, as it helps regain many of the nutrients lost from a day of fasting. Generally, most Muslims eat a couple of snacks, make their prayer, and then return to eat large, lavish meals with their friends and family.

Muslims also try to finish the Qur’an during Ramadan as well, starting the first chapter of the Qur’an on the first day of Ramadan and finishing the thirtieth chapter before the last night. And since Ramadan is a festive time, there is a lot of sharing and giving that goes on as well. Families and friends tend to invite each other to their homes for Iftar, making it a joyous alternative for those who live in a rather hectic, individualistic American society.

“When I think about Ramadan, it reminds me of family get-togethers,” says Sumerra. “Every weekend we would be invited to someone’s house for Iftar. Eating together with everyone was a lot of fun. Also, another thing I love about Ramadan is the delicious food. During Ramadan, there are usually special foods and appetizers cooked.”

The last day of Ramadan is also an Islamic holiday known as Eid ul-Fitr. Because the Islamic calendar is based on a lunar calendar, Ramadan can end with either twenty-nine days or thirty, depending on when the new moon appears. So on Eid ul-Fitr, all Muslims flock to their mosques in the morning to attend a special morning prayer that’s led by an Imam. The rest of the day is then marked by celebrations and good times with both family and friends.

“My family loves Ramadan, so we always have big gatherings,” says Rukayah Albdolcader, a pre-nursing major at San Francisco State. “I have a big family and we are really close, but during Ramadan, our love for each other increases and it’s great to spend time together.”

But what’s the best part of Ramadan ending for any college Muslim student?

“Not having to set that alarm for 4:30 in the morning,” says Sumerra, with a pleasant grin on her face.