Local Somalis observe the holy month by fasting during daylight hours.
LEWISTON – It used to take a week for Abdi Mohamed to get used to not eating all day. He used to be tempted to sneak somewhere with his friends and share a few snacks.
That was when he was 15.
These days, observing the holy month of Ramadan is much easier for the 23-year-old warehouse worker.
“This first two days are kind of hard,” he said Friday, patting his stomach. “After that it is easy.”
Today marks of the first day of Ramadan, a month-long period of fasting, prayer and introspection for Muslims across the world.
The month – the holiest of the year for Muslims – begins with the appearance of the crescent moon.
At about 3 a.m., Abdi woke up and shared a meal with his family. By sunrise, all of the food was put away. It was time for prayer and contemplation.
Abdi will not eat again until he returns home tonight from his job at L.L. Bean in Freeport. It is his way of honoring the laws of his religion, the scriptures of the Koran.
In addition to daily fasts, many local Muslims – mostly members of Lewiston’s Somali community – will meet in their Lisbon Street mosque every evening during the month to recite a chapter of the Koran.
By the end of the 30 days, and the rising of the next new crescent moon, they will have recited every scripture in the book.
Abdi and other Muslims fast because they are instructed to do so in the Koran.
Muslims believe Allah revealed the first texts of the Koran to the prophet Mohammed during the holy month. They look to the month as a time of spiritual purification.
Any Muslim older than 12 is encouraged to participate.
“When I was kid it was much harder, especially the first weeks,” Abdi said in broken English. “Now it is different. I know that if I do not fast, God will ask me on Judgment Day why I did not do it.”
lchmelecki@sunjournal.com
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