PSU athletes share Ramadan traditions with teammates
After receiving the “OK,” dozens of Portland State athletes flock to six plastic foldable tables-worth of food inside the Peter W. Stott Athletic Center practice gym.
“Single-file line, single file line,” Track & Field mid-distance runner Rashid Muse says into a microphone. He patiently stands and gives the instruction despite being one of the hungriest athletes in the room.
Muse and teammate Abdi Ibrahim, a distance runner, are observing Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic calendar that includes fasting from food and water between sunrise and sunset. On this April night, Muse and Ibrahim have invited fellow PSU athletes to enjoy Somali and Arabic food with them after sunset.
Lifelong Sunni Muslims, Muse and Ibrahim are navigating the month of Ramadan this year, from late March to late April, in the midst of the Outdoor Track & Field season. While fasting and training, they also must attend class, complete assignments, read assigned texts, balanced with any work outside of school and religious activities.
They aren’t the only PSU athletes observing Ramadan. On the day of the feast, Emmanuel Taban, a PSU basketball guard and practicing Muslim, counts 14 hours between meals and water intake. Next to him, Isaiah Henry, a linebacker on the football team who is also Muslim, sighs.
“You just made it feel longer,” he quips.
“You gotta push”
In the typical daily Ramadan routine, runners Ibrahim and Muse wake up around 5 a.m. to fill up on food and water before going back to sleep. They attend school, complete homework if energy levels allow it, and take a nap. Muslims also complete five daily prayers throughout the year.
Around 7:30 p.m., they often quickly break their daily fasts by consuming a date and some fluids. Following a larger feast, the athletes attend nightly prayers at the mosque, which can last up to 90 minutes. Typically home by 10:30 p.m., they prepare for a similar schedule the next day.
“There are days when you’ll be feeling pretty tired and can't focus to do any work,” Ibrahim says.
Ibrahim and Muse typically communicate with professors about the challenges they will face ahead of time, sometimes registering for online courses. Small tricks like walking after a meal at night, finishing coursework as early in the day as possible, letting someone know they are fasting if they become frustrated, and swishing water around their mouths help too.
Of course, they also run much more than the average person.
Both compete in several indoor and outdoor track events as well as Cross Country. Practice typically takes place in the morning after the first nap, but meets are on a fixed schedule.
It’s like a track race. The last 100 (meters) is like the last 10 days
Operating at an aerobic burn for a sustained period can make runners light headed without proper nutrition, teammate Dom Morganti says. “Running is a hunger sport. If you’re not fueling pretty regularly after you do work, it can be very, very tiring.”
Meet events that take place in the mid-afternoon can test even the most patient person. Sometimes, runners will need to withdraw from events.
“Racing, mentally, while fasting is just a whole different world,” Muse says.
Muse separates the mental strain of the month into three periods. The first ten days require observers to grow accustomed to the new routines, the middle ten days are when they are most used to it, and the final ten days are the most difficult. But those final days are also when Muslims are taught to most intensively read the Quran, pray, and be charitable.
“It’s like a track race. The last 100 (meters) is like the last 10 days,” Muse says. “You gotta push.”
The track team lets Muse and Ibrahim control their own workout schedules during this time. They typically opt to run when their energy is at a peak, in the early to mid-morning.
“We’ve tried to be as accommodating as possible,” Head Coach David Hepburn says. “It’s a mutual respect and trust. They know that I have their best interests at heart.”
Meanwhile, Ibrahim has managed to place ninth all-time in the PSU indoor 3,000-meter race, and Muse has earned five Academic All-Big Sky Conference awards.
Mutual understanding, respect
The Muslim athletes have a mutual understanding and respect with other PSU athletes.
“Many people appreciate the fact that we're there while we're fasting and they support us,” Ibrahim says. “If I want to hang out with my friends and they're eating, I don't really mind sitting right next to them. They don't have to feel bad. This is something I'm doing for myself.”
Common questions from non-Muslims include, “You can’t even drink water?” and “How do you do it?”
“I couldn't imagine fasting for that long and having to perform athletically,” PSU volleyball middle blocker Ashleigh Barto says.
For teammates, their struggle offers motivation.
There is verifiable proof that someone close by to you is working harder,” says Morganti, who trains regularly with Ibrahim and Muse. “You can tell that they’re tired, but they’re making an effort to be there for their teammates all the same.”
“It’s a vibe”
Muslims observing Ramadan seek to become more “God-conscious,” referring to the deepened relationship with the deity, fellow Muslims, and others in a way that “transforms” observers physically, mentally, and, above all, spiritually.
“It's the most beautiful time of the year,” Muse says “It's a vibe.”
Another common theme: strength through hardship. It can offer lessons that become a catalyst for the remainder of the year.
“Modern life is made to be easy. But when you think about it, all of it means nothing because we’re all going to end up in the same place, in the ground,” Henry says. “All that matters, really, are your deeds, how you treat people, the lives you touch. We don’t deserve anything. Everything we have is a blessing.”
The athletes view the additional challenges as opportunities to create even more rewards.
“When we’re able to eat on a regular basis, I’m going to feel like a juggernaut. I’m going to feel invincible,” Taban says.
When we’re able to eat on a regular basis, I’m going to feel like a juggernaut. I’m going to feel invincible.
Satisfied enough
Muse gives another instruction at the athletes’ dinner: “I just want you all to know that I don’t want to see any more leftover food.”
He has good reason to say so, as he and his family spent hours cooking it.
The dinner began last year when Ibrahim, Muse, and former teammate Keynan Abdi invited their track teammates to a last-minute feast during Ramadan. It took place in a small room in the basement of the Stott Center.
Muse is a student representative for PSU Athletics’ Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. As the committee formulated event ideas, Muse suggested opening the dinner to the entire athletics department.
“It’s so awesome that they want to share more about it with other people who maybe haven’t met anyone who practices Islam or who’s participated in Ramadan before,” says Libby Bissen, Director of Academic Services for PSU Athletics, who works with the committee. “It’s just a really cool way to expand everyone else’s horizons.”
Phoebe Brown, a track and cross country teammate and President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, helped spread the word.
“Everyone’s down to experience something new and celebrate their friend, celebrate their teammate’s differences,” Brown says. “I think that Portland State specifically seeks out those experiences.”
This year, members of the volleyball, football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball teams also joined, about 60 people total.
“It’s really cool to see the other sports get involved,” Coach Hepburn says. “It could be something that we can raise awareness about what someone else is going through.”
Ibrahim and Muse hope to continue expanding the now-annual event and have someone take over when they leave.
“It’s like having a big dinner with family, knowing that this month is really important to us and they support us,” Ibrahim says. “Just get them together. Enjoy being joyful together.”
They consider organizing the meal itself an act of charity in itself.
“They’re just the best dudes you’ll ever meet. Genuinely such kind people,” Morganti says. “The fact that they put this all on shows that.”
At the feast, they alsoare some of the last at the dinner to grab the food, despite their fast. Upon sunset, they each ate a date, drank some water, and spent the first part of the meal praying in a corner of the gym as fellow athletes took their first bites.
“Fasting emphasizes the fact that we want to give that patience, that endurance of being in the pain of it,” Muse says. “And when you're satisfied, that's something that you harp on in his worldly life.”