In Utah and around the world, Muslims are preparing — and bracing — for the holy month of Ramadan, a time of dawn-to-dusk fasting and late-into-the-night gatherings bursting with family, friends and food.
For the billions who observe the lunar holiday, anticipated to begin Feb. 28 or March 1, depending on the moon’s appearance, the season is a joyful one full of community, spiritual reflection and service to others — as well as intense fatigue, hunger and thirst.
" You can expect,” said Imam Shuaib Din of West Jordan’s Utah Islamic Center, “almost every Muslim to be fasting.”
For those individuals, Din suggested tapering caffeine consumption a week before Ramadan starts, keeping predawn meals simple and using any saved-up vacation time. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, meanwhile, has, for the first time, issued a tool kit for celebration observers to help put institutions on alert of the sacred month and what it entails.
A day in the life during Ramadan
Morning • Each day begins with a predawn meal and prayer. Those who are able return to bed for a little extra sleep before work, school and other responsibilities.
Midday • Observers perform the second prayer of the day.
Afternoon • A third prayer is offered. Those with the option to do so may try to nap.
Evening/night • Families pray and break their fast with a celebratory meal often shared with friends. Afterward, those who are able often go to the mosque to perform a night prayer and another Ramadan-specific prayer, known as the taraweeh.
“Ramadan is a time to reconnect with Islam, so many people try to commit to doing something extra each day,” Ali-Abbas Sial of the Emerald Project said. “This could be reading the Quran, donating to charity or volunteering. The point is to be consistent with the action throughout the month, and possibly continue throughout the year.”
Still, there’s only so much an individual can do to make a 1,400-year-old celebration, held in commemoration of the revelation of the Quran, fit with the demands of a modern world.
For that, said Din and the team at the Emerald Project, a Utah-based nonprofit focused on rooting out Islamophobia, Muslims need the support of their communities.
How to support students during Ramadan
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A family gathers for an evening meal in the banquet hall at the Alrasool Islamic Center in Taylorsville during Ramadan in March 2024. Muslims begin fasting after they've reached puberty.
Asked how schools and teachers can support their Muslim students, Din and the Emerald Project gave the following suggestions:
• Offer fasting students alternative dates for exams and final projects. Because Muslims are expected to begin the fasting ritual with the onset of puberty, this advice extends to middle school and high school instructors.
• Allow Muslim students time away from class to fulfill obligatory prayers. Those performed during the midday and later afternoon are most likely to overlap with school hours.
• Give Muslim students time to attend the Eid prayer to mark the end of Ramadan.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Men, women and children gather for an evening meal in the banquet hall at the Alrasool Islamic Center in Taylorsville during Ramadan in March 2024. Ramadan is a time spent in private reflection and gathering with friends and family in celebration of the revelation of the Quran.
The University of Utah includes many of these proposed accommodations on its interfaith and cultural calendar, while Utah State University allows for excused absences for religious holy days.
“Student Affairs staff can help with these accommodations through the Disability Resource Center, the CARE Office, or the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards,” said USU spokesperson Logan Wilber, adding that the school has two rooms set aside for prayer and meditation — one in the Mehdi Heravi Global Teaching and Learning Center and the other in the Taggart Student Center.
Finally, Brigham Young University, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has a prayer room set aside in the Wilkinson Student Center year-round for Muslim students.
(Brigham Young University) All are invited to attend a March 13 fast-breaking meal to be held on BYU's campus.
How to support employees during Ramadan
Much the same advice — essentially, be flexible when possible — also applies to companies trying to accommodate Muslim employees.
Other suggestions include:
• Permit fasting employees to take their lunch hour at the end of the workday.
• Avoid mandatory meetings that involve food and beverages. Generally, be aware that, while it sometimes can’t be helped, eating in front of someone who is fasting is considered impolite.
• Provide a space where workers can pray in private.
• When creating a schedule, avoid assigning Muslim workers evening shifts that coincide with the breaking of their fast.
‘Don’t worry about saying the wrong things’
Because of the astrological requirements for the lunar celebration, it’s difficult to say ahead of time exactly when the holiest month in the Muslim calendar will begin. The Fiqh Council of North America is the body responsible for officially declaring its start and end for Muslims living in the United States.
Once the holy month has commenced, those desiring to wish observers well should use the phrase, “Ramadan kareem,” translated directly as “generous Ramadan” and indirectly as “blessed Ramadan.”
Even a gesture as small as this one, Emerald Project Executive Director Satin Tashnizi said, will be welcome at a time when “Muslims feel like they’re under a microscope.”
(Courtesy photo) Satin Tashnizi is the co-founder and executive director of the Emerald Project. Small accommodations and gestures from non-Muslims can make a big difference, she said, in sustaining those observing the monthlong fast.
Americans, Tashnizi stressed, “are pretty tolerant.” At the same time, she believes current political and cultural trends have emboldened those who argue that “we are no longer required to look out for people who are different from us.”
This, in turn, can add an extra layer of difficulty on an already demanding religious practice.
“It’s really challenging to observe your religion,” Tashnizi said, “when you’re constantly worried about other people around you being suspicious of you.”
By acknowledging the celebration, showing sincere interest in the practice and providing words of encouragement, non-Muslims go a long way, she said, in creating a space where observers feel supported.
One such example: The time a Latter-day Saint colleague recognized that Tashnizi was struggling with the physical demands of fasting. Rather than encourage her to eat, the woman gave her Muslim colleague a pep talk about her own belief in the power of fasting to unlock new spiritual strength.
“Don’t worry about saying the wrong things,” Tashnizi advised. “Just be yourself and speak from the heart.”
Interested in participating in a fast-breaking meal this Ramadan? Join the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake at the Day-Riverside Library on Saturday, March 22, at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
