Ramadan — Utah Muslims reflect on month of fasting

Fasting is a quiet exercise; an intimate reach toward the divine that opens the soul to humility without and enlightenment within. Forgoing food and drink for 14 hours, day after day, requires a mastery of self that simple logic can't explain.

But true faith has never been based in mere logic.

So as Muslims worldwide prepare to finish their annual monthlong period of daily fasting known as Ramadan next week, there will be rejoicing, sharing and feasting — both physical and spiritual.

Next week's celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr — one of the two main festivals of Islam, scheduled at the South Towne Expo Center — will be a highlight of Ramadan for Faisal and Sofia Ahmed, as the fast comes to a close.

The siblings have eschewed the path away from their faith that many college students nationwide pursue. Instead, they have sought to be true to the teachings of Islam, fasting daily from about 5:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. since early September.

This year, the lunar calendar that determines when the celebration will be held dictated that Ramadan would coincide with the start of their classes at the University of Utah. And though they are quiet about their personal religious observance, they admit it can be challenging to keep one's mind focused on academics as their blood sugar dips, while others are free to fill both their heads and their stomachs.

"The first week was the hardest," says Faisal, a new student at the U.'s Medical School. "Most people don't know what you are going through. You don't walk around and tell people. But it's OK. Some people do know, and it's kind of reassuring that they do so you can talk about it a little bit. You kind of get over the difficulty of watching other people eat."

Sofia, who is in her last semester as an undergrad in psychology, said while the daily fast is difficult, "it makes you more patient. I think the busier you are, it's less difficult to deal with." At times when the hunger pangs hit, "I think about people who are dying of hunger and what they go through," and knowing she doesn't suffer like they do eases the longing for food, she says.

Hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide have focused their faith on abstinence and self-denial in the past several weeks. But that reality can seem far removed from believers along the Wasatch Front. Still, several thousand Muslims in Utah often perform their five-times daily prayers alone in their homes or offices during the day. Breaking the fast each evening at sunset is usually a family or community affair, as they gather strength from each other to persevere the next day.