Source: The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1006/p03s01-ussc.html
Aaliyah Turner used to light up the scoreboards for the Emmanuel College women's basketball team - even while observing the Islamic month of Ramadan. She would go all day without food and water until half time, when the sun set. So during this year's observance, playing a pickup game of basketball with a youth team organized through her mosque seemed to be no big deal.
"If I weren't fasting, I'd feel like I'd probably miss more shots because I'm out of sync," Ms. Turner says.
Muslims in the United States face special challenges in celebrating their holy month, which this year began Sept. 23 and ends Oct. 22. While Muslims in the Islamic world revive the daily rhythms of Ramadan - streets empty at sunset, families congregating for Ramadan dinners, or iftars, and later heading to the markets to drink tea until the wee hours of the morning, comfortable in the knowledge that they can sleep late because others will, too - Muslim-Americans have to adjust Ramadan to the beat of American life.
In the process, they're creating Ramadan traditions with a distinct American flavor - whether it's fasting in the heat of competition, eating takeout for iftar, or breaking fast with Christians and Jews.