Not the same for everyone, but some generalities apply. I have met many non-Muslims in my life who have expressed an interest in trying out fasting for a day in an effort to see what it is like and/or to show “solidarity” with their Muslim neighbors (whatever that means). Yet, for just about as many people who have said that to me I only know ONE who has actually done it for a day. A few more who tried but were unable, and even more who expressed an interest but never did it, and less who expressed an interest but openly admitted “but there’s no way I can do that!”
I would not expect any non-Muslim to try fasting a day during Ramadan, at the same time, for those of you out there who want to be creative and ambitious about finding new ways to develop relationships with you Muslim students; I think it is a good idea. You can express a respect for what they are doing and the discipline it takes. Further, as an adult you will likely have a heightened self awareness compared to your adolescent students. Therefore, if you try fasting you might be able to detect certain effects it has your body and mind that you can the express to your students. It is likely that many of the students will recognize that they have experienced the same thing, and it will be neat for them to hear their teacher articulating that back to them. Some things you experience while fasting. Firstly, I find virtually agreed upon by anyone who fasts that I bring the question up to, not drinking the whole day is much more difficult than the not eating part. Hunger may be triggered by the smells of food, but all in all it is not too difficult for the body and mind to ignore the hunger. Especially as the month goes on and the body adjusts to the feeling of fasting everyday. Generally, per my experience, in the first few days of Ramadan I might feel a little hunger around lunch time, as it is the time of day that my body and mind are habitually conditioned to expect to eat. But once that time of day is through the hunger is not all that bad. The last few hours of fasting, even in the long summer days where fasting can be up to 17 hours, I do not feel the urge of hunger in the early to late afternoon hours. Rather, what seems to take place is that your stomach sort of turns off and you become sort of unconscious (or less conscious) of feeling in your belly at all. One of the supposed health benefits of fasting is suppose to be that as the day goes on the body has less blood concentrated the stomach, because the work of digesting does not need to take place, and therefore more blood concentrated in the brain, which I am told is suppose to have mental and neurological health benefits. There are plenty of health benefits to fasting which is something Muslims are aware of and is a secular aspect to fasting that can be discussed and taught in classrooms where teachers are wishing to use Ramadan as a way to build relationships with students. There are, however, also health risks if the fasting is not done in a disciplined way. I intend to discuss this in a little more detail in another post.
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