How to Compete in the Olympics While Fasting for Ramadan
When an estimated 3,500 Muslim athletes come to the London Olympics this summer, the pinnacle of their athletic careers will directly coincide with one of the most important periods in their spiritual calendar. This year, all 17 days of athletic competition take place during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are required to fast and refrain from drinking water from sunrise to sunset. The overlap of Ramadan and the Olympics may prove a physical and spiritual challenge to many of the observant athletes-but in many ways the Olympic spirit and the holy month share a core essence that makes the overlap somehow appropriate and harmonious: sacrificing the self and practicing self-control in the bid to achieve perfection.
At its core, Islam is a very practical and flexible religion, one that has historically accommodated difficult circumstances. Many Muslim athletes at the Games this year will avail themselves of that flexibility, others, particularly observant women, have found ways to compete while adhering to traditional interpretations of Islamic law that require them to cover their bodies. Top ranked U.S. sabre fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad will be the first American woman to compete in hijab, following in the footsteps of Bahrain’s Ruqaya Al Ghasara a sprinter who, in 2004, was the first athlete to compete in a specially designed athletic head-to-toe covering. This year Afghanistan’s boxer Sadaf Rahimi will do the same, even as she defies tribal custom—and the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law that prohibits blows to the face—by boxing in a room full of men