Collegiate Times

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The most difficult aspect of fasting for Yusuf Abugideiri during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is the bad breath, he joked.

But a severe case of halitosis is the least of his sacrifices for 30 days every year in order to further his faith as a Muslim.

This year, Ramadan started Sept. 1, and, for 25 days now, Abugideiri, and Muslims world-wide have celebrated the revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Mohammad .

As a senior finance major, Rhodes Scholarship applicant, Pamplin ambassador, and University Honors student, Abugideiri's days are usually long enough. Fasting is an extra challenge, he said. But 30 days without his Stride gum, that's close to torture.

"I'm a gum lover," Abugidieri said. "You'll never see me outside Ramadan without gum."

Its 9 a.m. Friday the 19th at a table in front of Au Bon Pain. He's wearing a yellow shirt from his summer internship at General Electric, khaki cargo shorts, and white Nike zoom sneakers. Headphones dangle around his neck, linked to a black iPod that had most recently played "Daydreamin'" by Muslim rapper Lupe Fiasco.

He'd been up until 2 a.m. the night before watching "Casablanca", missing breakfast and morning prayers by sleeping in. He prayed at 8 a.m., as soon as he woke up.

"God understands if I'm late," he said. "I'm not trying to be late. Is God mad? Probably not even worth His time. Besides, if He is all knowing and all seeing, He knew it was coming. Does it happen everyday? No. But I'd like to say I'm batting .900"

His dark eyes dart between students picking up coffees and pastries. He's not feeling hungry, yet. He last ate some pasta and chicken around 11 p.m. the night before. Other mornings, when the alarm is heard, he'll eat anything from a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to a pint of Rocky Road Ben and Jerry's ice cream, to eggs and slices of turkey bacon -- Muslims do not eat pork. According to tradition Muslims cannot eat or drink from about 5:30 a.m. to about 7:30 p.m. during Ramadan. At 7:30 they partake in a dinner called "iftar," where they break the fast with the traditional first food, dates.
On long days when Abugidieri has class during iftar, he'll tell the instructor ahead of time he'll be eating during class. Usually it's a Hokie Club from West End, just with no bacon and a substitution of corned beef instead of ham.
The Islamic religion dictates Muslims don't drink alcohol, use drugs that alter the mind, or engage in pre-marital sex -- basically the weekend activities of your "average" college student, Abugidieri said.
He's been fasting since second grade -- a total of 15 months in his 21 years. This year he says has not been so bad. He's kept busy filling out paperwork for his Rhodes scholarship and managing his 17 credits of class work. Other years have not ended so favorably, such as freshman year when he lost 25 pounds, or during a football season in high school when he got severely dehydrated during a practice his legs cramped so badly he couldn't walk and had to be taken to the hospital.

Never the less, the month of Ramadan is his favorite time of the year.

"I honestly have an anxious feeling going in," Abugidieri says. "I'm excited to better myself, improve my relationship with God, doing good deeds, and contributing to society. Every year it gets better."
Ramadan focuses on the five pillars of Islam said Hazima Javaid, 21, an aerospace engineering student from Herndon. They are profession of Faith to Allah, the one God; prayer five times a day; giving to the poor; fasting during Ramadan; and eventually a pilgrimage to Mecca -- Islam's holiest city in Saudi Arabia.

"(Ramadan) is what defines me as Muslim," Javaid says. "It's a month of reflection for me. I revise my self, every thing I did in the past whole year, kind of like a new years resolution, except for a month. You revise what you did last year and what you can improve on for this year ....ways to become closer with God. It's just you and god, no food and little things, desires, in between."

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