Young athletes make sacrifice for Ramadan - Salt Lake Tribune
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 08/30/2008 08:18:35 AM MDT
Imagine the brute strength and physical agility required to bring down opponents for your high-school football team. Now think about trying to do it without eating or drinking all day.
That was Sharyar Khan's challenge playing defensive tackle for Bingham High School during Ramadan, the annual 30-day Islamic holiday during which all believers abstain from food, drink and physical pleasures such as smoking and sex from dawn until sunset.
The observance of Ramadan, which will begin with the sighting of the newmoon - expected on Monday - is one of the "five pillars" of the Islamic religion, along with the declaration of faith, daily prayers, charity and pilgrimage to Mecca. It commemorates the month that the Prophet Muhammad received the faith's sacred text, the Quran.
In Muslim countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, school schedules change and homework and tests are put on hold to accommodate the fasting population. American Muslim school children are on their own.
"It was hard to fast, but if you didn't think about it too much, it was fine," Khan said this week. "I just went in with a positive attitude and it worked out."
Khan didn't tell his highschool coach about the fasting requirement because he didn't want to be treated as a special case, he said. He wanted to earn his position.
Besides, previous coaches had tried to talk him out of it, saying he would hurt his body. Once he fell down on the field from being dehydrated.
A couple of times, he got hit in the mouth and medics poured water over him to stop the bleeding.
"I took in a lot of water," he said. "That broke my fast but not on purpose."
Not everyone has to fast during Ramadan, though.
Pregnant or menstruating women are exempt but expected to make up the lost fast days during the course of the year. Children begin fasting gradually, first half a day, then several days, until they grow old enough to fast without injuring their health. The practice is meant to instill discipline, and to encourage gratitude and identification with the poor.
"It teaches me a lot of patience," said Shariyar's younger brother, Mohammad, a junior. "When our imam [religious leader] comes over to teach us, he tells us about people in Africa or other Third World countries where they don't get three meals a day.
This makes you think about how fortunate you are."
The boys have been observing Ramadan since they were about 7, says Wajeeha Khan, their mother. "As they watched the adults, they wanted to participate."
Their South Jordan friends and neighbors seem to be quite tolerant of Muslim practice, she says. "I don't think it's as hard here as elsewhere."
Shariyar feels his friends accept his Islamic faith and even admire his self-control.
"Kids who knew me well knew I was fasting and were amazed that I could go without water for the whole season," he said.
Khan opted not to play football this year -- partly because of an ankle injury, and partly to prepare for upcoming college tests.
"I am not sure exactly when I take the test, but I hope it's after Ramadan," he said. "I will need a lot of food that day."
Peggy Fletcher Stack writes about religion and spirituality. Contact her at
pstack@sltrib.com or 801-257-8525.
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