While many Americans gather around the table to chow down for a Thanksgiving lunch today, Dr. Syed Rafique and his wife, Theresa, won't take a bite of food or a drop of water until dark.
"We fast from sunrise to sunset, so we like to have Thanksgiving dinner at night," said Rafique, a Muslim originally from Pakistan.
Dr. Hamza Brimah, a Greenwood physician who came to this country from Nigeria, follows the same faith. "We'll have Thanksgiving dinner instead of Thanksgiving lunch," he said.
This is one of those rare years when American Muslims find their national feast day falling right in the middle of Ramadan, their holy month of fasting. Since Islam follows the lunar calendar, Ramadan, the ninth of 12 months, comes 10 or so days earlier each year. This year, it began Nov. 6 and will end Dec. 6 with Eid al-Fitr, a gift-giving festival similar to Christmas.
The month-long fast is intended to be a time of worship and contemplation when Muslims resist temptation and forget about their everyday concerns. According to the Koran, Islam's holy book, they must abstain from any temptation while the sun is in the sky beginning when "you can plainly distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daylight." So the fast is not just from food but also from drink or sex, too.
Dr. Mohammed Hoque, a Mississippi Valley State University social work professor, says it's a time when Muslims live like they should live year-round.
"Some people call it a refresher course for Islam, how we should live the whole year, but it comes one month in a year," said Hoque, a native of Bangladesh in South Asia.
Not even water is allowed.
Still, that doesn't dampen the Thanksgiving celebration for the Rafiques, the Brimahs or the Hoques. A big part of Ramadan is breaking the fast. Once the sun goes down, the forks go up - this time of year, around 5 p.m.
"We feast every night, so actually Thanksgiving dinner fits right in," said Rafique, a Greenwood oncologist also known as "Ed." "We usually make the Thanksgiving meal bigger because the kids are all into it."
For the Rafiques, that meal consists of cuisine not much different from that found on most American tables, except for a touch of South Asia.
"We're going to have turkey because that's an American tradition and then lamb because that's another tradition," said Theresa Rafique, who is Catholic but fasts with her husband during Ramadan.
Although children aren't required to follow the fast, their 8-year-old daughter, Jasmine, tried it for a day. "She just wanted to keep up with us because we can't eat or drink," said her mother. "She was hungry."
The effect was a little more intense, according to Jasmine. "I had a headache," she said. She was glad when she finally got to eat that night. They went to La Piñata.
Syed Rafique said it's hard for his children to go a day without food while their friends and classmates eat and drink in front of them. The temptation isn't so difficult for him, though. He rises shortly before 5 a.m. for breakfast while it's still dark.
"It's very easy for me because I like to make my rounds early so I'm able to get up earlier," he said. "And I don't take a lunch break, so I'm more efficient."
The schedule also helps him kick his coffee break addiction. "This month of the year, I get rid of all my bad habits."
The key, Brimah said, is to keep those habits from forming. He avoids fast food all year, but going a whole day without consuming anything is still tough for him.
"My challenge is the thirst factor, but other than that, I'm able to cope without food," said Brimah. He prefers goat meat on Thanksgiving, when he can get it.
Still, Brimah finds, the challenge is greater closer to the Equator, in Nigeria, which is about 60 percent Muslim.
"We're somewhat fortunate here because sunrise to sunset is only about 12 hours, whereas back home in Nigeria, it might be 14 hours," he said.
