Thankful Bruins eat turkey, fast

On Thursday evening, Michelle Belo will be sitting down for
turkey, stuffing, candied yams and tamales at her grandma’s
home in the city.

Meanwhile, Khattaab Khan will be at home with his mother in
Laguna Niguel, giving thanks by breaking his 23rd day of Ramadan
fasting with a light snack and prayer.

Khan and Belo represent two cultures which give thanks in nearly
opposite fashion this season, taking part in traditions that ask
its participants to either feast or refrain from eating.

The overlap between Thanksgiving and Ramadan, a month on the
Islamic calendar that requires Muslims to fast daily, is rare
because the lunar calendar means Ramadan is celebrated 10 days
earlier each year.

To Khan, a second-year international development studies and
political science student, “giving thanks” means
moderation and sacrifice.

“When you contrast that with Thanksgiving, you’re
giving thanks for what you have, but you’re indulging
yourself,” he said.

“I’m not saying American culture is not
characteristic of Muslim culture,” he continued, but
“to us, it’s kind of like a Hallmark
holiday.”

During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn until dusk
““ which, this year, falls from around five in the morning to
five in the evening.

At sunset, Muslims break their fast by praying and eating
something sweet, like dates ““ consistent with practices of
the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Students from UCLA’s Muslim Student Association have been
breaking their fast weeknights behind Kerckhoff hall, eating and
praying together since Ramadan began three weeks ago.

“Fasting tries to give you the opportunity to feel the
strife that underprivileged people feel every day,” Khan
said. “You gain a greater appreciation for what you have, so
I guess it is a form of Thanksgiving.”

Belo’s family celebrates the holiday in the traditional
sense, with a massive gathering that family members from all over
the state will attend ““ flocking to taste what she says are
her grandma’s famous tamales.

“Everyone brings a dish to help her out, but my grandma
starts cooking at six in the morning,” said Belo, a
first-year biology student.

As for being thankful, she said her family shares their
blessings aloud.

“We go around and say a prayer ““ my grandma is
Catholic ““ and everybody says what they’re thankful
for,” she said.

Like Khan, she acknowledges that “giving thanks” can
be shown in different ways, be it by eating a full dinner or by
fasting.

“However you want to do it,” she says,
“you’re still giving thanks.”

Khan celebrated a similarly traditional Thanksgiving with his
extended family until several years ago, when he moved to
California with his mother.

He has fasted during Ramadan for “around 10 years,”
but the period during which he celebrated both occasions did not
threaten his religious beliefs.

“(Thanksgiving) is pretty much viewed as a Western
holiday, but there’s nothing wrong with it,” he said.
“We just don’t go out of our way to have a big
feast.”

“It has its historical origins but recently it’s
become very commercialized,” he added, referring to the day
after Thanksgiving as the kickoff of the holiday shopping
season.

And, he said, Muslims who do celebrate the holiday still keep
moderation in mind.

“You can’t use the justification that you’ve
fasted all day to gorge yourself with four plates of food,”
he said.

Many Muslim students are quick to identify other differences
between the two occasions, but most still suggest the paramount
similarity is spending time with family.

Jewelle Francisco, the vice president of the Muslim Students
Association, fasts for Ramadan ““ which she calls “more
meaningful” for her than Thanksgiving ““ alone because
her family is not Muslim.

“You wish they would share it with me, but in the end,
I’m thankful to God and my family is also thankful to
God.

“It’s a good time to be together,” she
said.

Both Khan and Belo agree, setting religious beliefs aside and
saying the time should be reserved for family.

“I’m really close to my family and I get to see
them,” Belo said.