Fast-A-Thon honors Ramadan

From 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom on Sept. 1, the Muslim Student Association at UCF invites students to reflect on something that more than one billion people deal with everyday — hunger.

In accordance with the Islamic calendar, Muslims all over the world are celebrating the month of Ramadan, which involves abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset.

"It's all about self-purification and putting aside your base desires…and focusing on getting closer to God and building that connection," said junior journalism pending major Sarah Aslam, MSA's marketing director.

"Because it's such a blessed month for us, we're encouraged to not really engage in idle things and kind of pull the emergency brake on what you usually do the other 11 months of the year."

Doors to the Fast-A-Thon will open at 6:30 p.m. There is no entry fee, but MSA is accepting donations for Project Downtown: Orlando and Helping Hand, a worldwide humanitarian relief and development organization.

"We're going as cheap as possible to maximize the donations we can give to the needy because they're urgently in need of it," said senior film major Abdullah Sabawi, president of MSA.

The money given to Helping Hand will be sent to Pakistan to help those who were victims of the flood that happened about a month ago, which displaced about 20 million people.

Although the event is free and will have food from local Halal restaurants, MSA hopes students will learn about Ramadan and those who are in need of help.

At 7 p.m., Dr. Ali Shehata, a physician and expert in Islam, will speak about the spiritual and physical benefits of fasting.

Following Shehata's speech will be representatives from Project Downtown: Orlando and Helping Hand.

Prayer will follow the presentations and the fast will be broken at sunset with dates and water.

Though MSA has about 30 to 40 active members, they're expecting a few hundred people to show up for the event, according to junior molecular biology and microbiology major Shazeen Ahmad, vice president of MSA.

"We're encouraging everyone to bring at least one non-Muslim friend, so they can experience what we experience and just kind of taste the sweetness of our way of life…and see Islam through a different viewpoint," said Aslam.

Aslam, Sabawi and Ahmad are all hoping that non-Muslim students will try fasting for that day or at least make a donation to charity.

"It will build bridges and understanding about our religion and what it means to fast during Ramadan," said Sabawi. "The money you would've spent on smoothies and fast food…save that money and donate it to charity."