Ramadan in a Western world

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion and Ethics Writer

Muslims recite extra prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. For those living in the Western world, finding a place to pray on any day can sometimes be difficult. Some in Hawai'i have found themselves praying in dressing rooms or on sidewalks. Gregory Yamamoto •  The Honolulu Advertiser

During Ramadan, which starts either Friday or Saturday, depending on the phase of the moon, Muslims are supposed to fast from sunup to sundown, and renew their devotion through extra praying and studying the Quran.

Problem is, the rest of one's life is not easily put on hold.

Still, Kane'ohe resident Faten El-Kadi has been known to get creative in finding places to do the prayers she performs five times a day year-round, so Ramadan should be no different. On non-Ramadan days, she occasionally has found herself out shopping, with little chance of getting home for prayers.

So she has ducked into the fitting stall of a clothes store.

Hakim Ouansafi, president of the Muslim Association of Hawai'i also has learned to adapt.

As general manager for the Aston Aloha Surf hotel, he's often invited to breakfast meetings or to business luncheons during Ramadan. He just politely declines food or drink, even turning down water.

But in some ways, Ouansafi is among the lucky ones. He can close his office door on the main floor of the airy hotel where he works to do his daily prayers said in the direction of Mecca, which, from Hawai'i, is northwest. Or he can slip outside into the Waikiki sun with a mat.

El-Kadi's husband, Aly, a University of Hawai'i hydrogeology professor, also will close his office door.

Others go to parks, or find a quiet, shady spot and bring their mats in the car for the rakat, said five times a day, but with renewed meaning during Ramadan: in the morning, at noon, at midday, at sunset and at night. Ouansafi has done his rakat on a sidewalk under Fourth of July fireworks.

Both Ouansafi and Aly El-Kadi have on separate occasions even slipped behind a shop at Ala Moana to pray.

The basic idea is to find a clean place — no bathrooms, for example. And if Ouansafi can't pray exactly at 3:30 p.m. for midday, he tries to do it as soon as is reasonably possible.

Mideast complications

The heightened sensitivities after Sept. 11 and the fighting raging in the Mideast has caused at least one complication: Scholars from Saudi Arabia, invited each year to come to Hawai'i to join the local Ramadan observance, are unwilling to travel now, Ouansafi said.

However, at the same time, the changes have spurred a new wave of converts: Clerics across the nation have reported a nearly fourfold increase in the number of people converting to Islam.

And increased exposure to the religion has made non-Muslims more understanding. Since Muslim has become a common word in Americans' vocabulary, more people understand what they see when they come upon a praying Muslim.

Still, when Ouansafi went to Maui on Oct. 22, he took a moment while at the airport to do his rakat. As he bent over from the waist, a passerby grew concerned he might be sick, and tried to interrupt him. He had to wait until he finished to explain, no, he was fine, thank you very much.

All eyes on Hawai'i

Ramadan begins with a look at the moon.

Ramadan, one of the Five Pillars, or fundamental obligations of the faith Mohammed began in A.D. 610, starts with the new moon of the ninth lunar month of Islam.

Because of Hawai'i's location and mostly clear skies, it has always played a lead role in helping determine Ramadan's starting date for American Muslims.

Several teams of Muslims across the Islands will set out Friday night to check if they can see a moon that has "matured" — "when it starts with a thin line," Ouansafi explained.

Once they report their observations to Ouansafi, he will use the telephone and Internet to trade observations with other Muslim leaders, and a decision will be made on when Ramadan will begin for Muslims in America. The start date may differ from other parts of the world.

If it's a go, they recite a verse of the Quran, and Ramadan starts, commemorating the first revelation of God to the prophet Mohammed.

Throughout the year, some of O'ahu's estimated 3,000 Muslims gather at the Manoa mosque for sunset prayers. At Friday services, by far the largest prayer gathering, the crowd can be as large as 300. During Ramadan, it grows.

Nightly during Ramadan, more gather at the mosque to break their fast at sundown.

And each night after regular prayers, the Taraweeh, a portion of the Quran, is recited, something that can take about an hour and a half. During the last 10 days of Ramadan, some men and women stay overnight at the mosque to pray. By the end of the month, the entire Quran may have been recited one to three times.

When Ramadan ends with the beginning of the next moon, there's a big Eid al-Fitr, a traditional potluck feast. So many families show up that it's been moved from the mosque to a park.

Weight gains while fasting

Although Muslims are expected to refrain from food and drink during daylight hours during Ramadan, this year Aly El-Kadi has a seemingly incongruous goal: He will try not to pack on the pounds that he has been known to gain during the holy month.

How's that again? Gaining weight during a period of fasting?

He laughed as he explained: While yes, he refrains from food, drink and sensual pleasures as required during the daylight hours, the ritual fast takes place only from dawn to sunset. Once you break your fast at sundown with three dates and milk, and pray from the Quran, you're free to bulk up on whatever you wish (except for of pork or alcohol, which always are forbidden).

It could be his wife's sweets: Faten El-Kadi makes a mean konafah (a layered sweet bread concoction with hazelnuts and homemade syrup), and qatayef (imagine pancakes stuffed with nuts and raisins, then fried).

She typically cooks more sweets during Ramadan, especially those of her Egyptian homeland.

But she reasons that the night treats fortify her family for the day endeavors during the holy month.

"Ramadan doesn't only mean abstaining from food, drink," adds Aly El-Kadi, a father of three. "You should control temper. Don't raise your voice or fight. Be patient, have self-control."

The fast, he said, provides protection against misdeeds: "What is the sense of fasting if I'm going to fight? It cleanses the body and the soul."

Exceptions can be made

All extol the physical benefits of fasting, but if Muslims find themselves sick or unable to finish the day's fast, they are free to eat or drink. Two of the El-Kadis' three children have Type 1 diabetes, and Islamic law frees them from the fasting requirement.

If fasting brings harm on a person, Ouansafi said, "that is not acceptable in Islam."

Travelers are exempt from fasting, as are pregnant women.

For others, the days that they are unable to fast for health reasons will be made up, doubly, after Ramadan: If you were sick for two days during Ramadan, afterward, you'll fast for four.

Those who are too old, or unable to make up the days without harming themselves, instead make a donation to the poor, which can include the needy of one's own family.

Ouansafi describes Ramadan as a spiritual "boot camp."

"It's exactly like someone taking a shower every so often," El-Kadi said. "It makes him cleaner. If you pray now, and expect to pray in a few hours, it doesn't make sense to do something (bad) in between.

"It's like meeting your grandmother a few times a day. You wouldn't do something bad to embarrass her in between."

Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8035.