my fast alone over a Subway sandwich or a hamburger.

"Being alone in Ramadan especially sucks if you come from a family of 10, like me," Almadhoun continues. "Followers of the Mormon faith can relate to all things Ramadan — they fast once a month, they give 'fast offering' and have big families where sharing is caring."

Subsequent years of Ramadan observance at BYU became much more fulfilling, he reports. For example, "the Alumni Association started a new university tradition. Every Ramadan, the association would hold an elaborate Iftar dinner for the Muslim students on campus . . . This would serve two purposes: to make the students feel that the university cares about them and to encourage them to become active alumni. Also, the university gets a dose ofdiversity, the very thing that some care about."

"To this day," Almadhoun continues, "I still share a meal with my Mormon friends every Ramadan. We often do it in the first Sunday of the month when they tend to fast."

Ramadan's overlap with football season led to a fascinating story in the New York Times about a high school football team in Dearborn, Mich., that is doing its preseason workouts between 11 p.m. and sunrise because they have so many Muslim students on the team.

"'Honestly, it's more a safety issue than a religious issue,' said (Coach Fouad) Zaban, 41, who, like all of his assistant coaches and the school principal, played at Fordson High School, a Michigan power. 'If kids were going to fast, and the majority are, it was