With this year's Ramadan just over, some Muslims are already thinking about the long, hot days of fasting that the holy month will require next year.

Dr. Mounzer Kassab, a volunteer for the East Lansing, Mich., Islamic Center’s public relations committee, said that while the changing times do not change how Muslims celebrate Ramadan, the month of fasting is more difficult during the northern hemisphere's summer. Because the lunar calendar shifts Ramadan about 10 days earlier each year, it will begin around Aug. 12 next year.

"It's a little bit harder because in the summer months, the days are longer," Kassab said.

The 28-day Ramadan observance is the holiest time of year for Muslims and calls for fasting from sunrise to sunset.

Ramazan Kilinc, a faculty member of Michigan State University's Muslim Studies program, said the timing of the month doesn't change the ritual.

"Even though I think it might have influenced it to a certain degree, I do not think that its impact is tremendous," Kilinc said. "Those who fast do not differentiate whether it falls in summer or winter. However, this situation might have influenced the fasting behaviors of the older, sick and those whose jobs are difficult to perform while fasting."

Sister Raghda Khatib, a teacher at the East Lansing Islamic Center School, said that longer fasting days will be more difficult for younger children, as they may get more tired and hungry than older people.

"For adults, it's knowing that it's something they need to do and that they will be rewarded for it," Khatib said.

Kassab said that children are encouraged to stick with the fasting by receiving gifts, mainly new clothes, from their parents.

Salah Hassan, a professor at Michigan State University, said summer fasting can especially impact Muslims enduring the withering heat of the Mideast and tropical regions.

"The fast includes abstinence from water, so that makes it more difficult because in summer the temperatures are higher," Hassan said.

But Kassab said that the Muslim communities, both in the Middle East and East Lansing, have found methods that they can use to prepare for summer fasting next Ramadan.

"People are encouraged to get up early in the morning, at least a half hour before sunrise, and have a good meal," Kassab said. "And if someone is sick, then he or she must feed another person each day that they couldn’t fast."

Khatib said that more people in the United States tend to eat at restaurants to break the fast instead of at home, as traditionally done in the Middle East. But those are just variations of a consistent observance, she said.

"It’s not a huge difference because Ramadan is mainly about getting new clothes and fasting," she said. "It’s the same all around the Muslim world."

Other than those adjustments, Hassan said that Muslims will continue to participate in Ramadan, no matter when it takes place.

"People who fast do it as an act of faith and are empowered by the experience," he said. "They don’t think of it in terms of easier or more difficult."

Rate: