Collegiate Times

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A printed out schedule of his classes hangs next to a print out of the daily prayer times. A prayer rug is folded neatly in his closet--his mother brought it back for him from Mecca after her Hajj, or pilgrimage.
Posters of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, both famous Muslims, spread across his walls. Other posters of the Superman symbol and a chimpanzee wearing headphones are on an opposite wall.

"Islam is going through its reformation right now," Abugidieri says. "It's a work in progress. Islam was founded 600 years after Christianity. Give us some time."
But Abugidieri can't help but accept there are setbacks, such as bombings and acts of terrorism carried out by Islamic extremists.

"It sucks, it sets us back," Abugidieri says. "It sets us normal Muslims back every time. It reintroduces negative imagery every time. There are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world. How many are terrorists? How much does a fingernail say about you as a whole? Islamic values hate war, and never promote war."

He explains there are people of every faith with differing interpretations of their respective religions, be they moderate, or extreme. For instance, Abugidieri's brother, Mustafa, a sophomore at the University of Maryland, never misses a single prayer time. He even took his Quran with him to beach week after high school. If a Hokie football game goes in to overtime during a scheduled prayer, he says his brother would find a quiet corner of the stadium to go pray. Abugidieri would wait until the game finished. He explains neither he, nor his brothers views, are wrong by any standard of Islam -- merely different.

Abdulshakur Abdullah, 27, president of the Muslim Student Association, says God expects nothing, but accepts everything.

"Muslims believe that God doesn't need anything from you," Abdullah says. "It's like when you're a child, your parent does need you to draw them a little picture that says thank you mom for making dinner. But when you do that it makes you feel better that you pleased your mom.

Abugidieri says the term "infidel," or unbeliever is a misnomer.

"I don't know what an infidel is. I've never seen one," Abugidieri says. "It's not uncomfortable to explain, it's impossible. They are not a person, but a concept. 'Unbelievers' don't necessarily harm God, but they miss out.

My personal philosophy is that if you believe or not, I couldn't care less. I know every man owes it to their fellow man to be a good person. Do people outside of Islam make it to heaven? Damn right. I hope so. Whichever version of heaven it is to them."

It's almost 1:15. Abugidieri drives up North Main to a local mosque in his silver Honda Civic. There's a gum wrapper in the cup holder, a work out suggestion ripped out of a Muscle Fitness magazine, and a small silver box the size of a dollar's stack of quarters: a miniature, but complete, Quran. There's a basketball court behind the mosque where he says every Friday night they will play pick up games together after prayers.

He removes his shoes once he's inside, and walks in to the "Masala," or prayer room. Before every prayer, Muslims must participate in "Wudhu", or ritual cleansing. They wash, in order, their hands, rinse out their mouth and nose, face, arms, hair, ears, and feet.

The Masala has tall narrow windows and broad horizontal striped carpeting, alternating green and blue -- colors the prophet Mohammed described as "peaceful," Abugidieri said.

He immediately begins movements called the "raka'ah" which is a process of standing, kneeling, pressing his forehead against the floor, and reciting memorized prayers.

The service begins promptly and Slimane Ajerid, a mathematics professor at Tech, gives the "khutba," or sermon. He talks of the patience that is required during Ramadan. That God gave Ramadan as "sometime for us to be happy." Because God's "reward is without limit." And at the end of the day, all Muslims have an excuse to be happy when they may finally break their fast and eat after a long and patient wait for sustenance, Ajerid says.
Come Tuesday, Abugidieri will have to exert his patience once more. He'll have 355 days until Ramadan returns.
"There's a lot of talk about the Christmas spirit, and it's the same thing with Ramadan," Abugidieri said. "You wish you were still in that month, wishing that it wasn't over just yet."

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