Students went hungry for the Ramadan Fast-A-Thon hosted by the Muslim Students' Association Thursday, Sept. 10.
Participants fasted for one day during Ramadan from sunrise to sunset and businesses in the area were asked to donate money to the local food bank.
This is an annual effort to raise awareness about Islam and benefit the Auburn community.
"We can choose to not eat today, but some do not have a choice," said Martha Fauple, the executive director at the East Alabama Food Bank. "Many do not understand the level of the hunger issue in our community. There is an increase of people needing help because more underemployment and those struggling to make end's meet."
A check was donated to the East Alabama Food Bank for $700. The remainder of the money raised from the night was donated to the food bank as well.
This is the sixth year the food bank worked with the Fast-A-Thon since it began in 2003.
It generates 300,000 pounds of food a month and operates on a large scale.
"Many have people around us are in need, and we sometimes don't even know it," Fauple said. "One example is a boy at a local school had a hot dog fall out of his pocket in the lunchroom. The teacher got on to him because she believed he was starting a food fight. He began to cry and say that was his mom's dinner."
Fauple said we all come from different faiths and backgrounds, but we start similarly in charity.
"We are not islands, we are connected," Fauple said. "We affect one another for better or worse and for richer or poorer."
Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured, from sunrise until sunset.
"We are meant to feel hunger and reflect on what other people feel when they go without food," said Jawad Mammou, a member of the Auburn Muslim community. "When other people ask about Ramadan, they assume we fast for 30 days without eating or drinking anything. They accept that idea, because they have no idea what it is to be hungry like those in need."
Mammou said this country is great in coming up with programs to feed the hungry, like the East Alabama Food Bank, but more still needs to be done. He said that is what the Fast-A-Thon and Ramadan is all about.
Every day during the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world get up before dawn to eat Sehri or Sahari, the pre-dawn meal, and then they perform the fajr prayer. They have to stop eating and drinking before the call for prayer starts until the fourth prayer of the day or Maghrib.
"It is about training, and it is an order from God to sustain from food and pleasures," Mammou said. "We are encouraged to control ourselves on when to eat and when to not to eat. Strong morality makes you free from your desires."
Muslims practice not only fasting, but giving money and charity as well during the month of Ramadan.
"We are more generous in Ramadan because it is believed that our rewards are multiplied during this time," Mammou said. "We believe that a society that has reckoning with God will be successful."
Donations were taken up as the Fast-A-Thon came to a close in the Student Center Ballroom. A call to prayer was given and the fast was broken at sundown. Food from different countries was served.
"Ramadan is not just about fasting and being Islam, but also about giving back to the local community," said Curtis Jolly, diversity chair in the Department of Multicultural Affairs. "The idea of fasting is to reflect on the hardships that other people are going through."
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