Toronto Star
LIFE, 
Saturday, December 16, 2000

Young skater doesn't eat or slow down during Ramadan fast

Sofia Mumtaz has been practicing spins and salchows since she was 6 1/2 years old.

This month her skating classes at the Thornhill Community Centre coincide with sunset, the time to break her Ramadan fast, but this hasn't deterred the determined 12-year-old from skating or fasting. She's not willing to compromise on either account.

"When she first started fasting four years ago, I explained to her that it was not obligatory for her at that age," says Sofia's mother, Barbara. "But she insisted that she wants to keep all her fasts despite her demanding skating and volleyball schedule.

"It doesn't bother her that time to (break) her fast falls in the middle of her figure skating. She gets a drink and eats a piece of fruit and then she's off again to practice till it's time to go home and 
eat properly."

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, started for the Greater Toronto Area's large Muslim population on Nov. 27. The date moves back 10 days every year because Muslims follow a lunar calendar, which is 10 days short of the Gregorian. In this period of 29 or 30 days, (depending on sighting of the moon), all able-bodied Muslims who have reached the age of maturity (around 13 years for girls and 15 for boys) are required to abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset everyday.

Small children, the elderly, people who are ill, pregnant women and those on a journey are exempt from fasting. The month of fasting culminates in the largest Muslim festival called Eid-al-Fitr.

Sofia, a Grade 7 student at Brownridge Public School in Thornhill, rises before at dawn every day to a breakfast of cereal, 
tea and toast.

"It's important that I eat in the morning because being around food can be hard. I'm lunchroom monitor so obviously I have to make a concentrated effort not to nibble here and there," she says.

"Also, I practice figure skating and volleyball everyday, so I need the strength. It doesn't bother me to wake up early because I can go back to sleep after the morning prayers."

Sofia's elder brother, Nadeem, 14, is a soccer fan and plays both soccer and basketball everyday. He started fasting four years ago when he was only 10.

"The intention of fasting is to follow your normal, everyday routine. My cousins who live in Toronto used to fast and I liked the idea, so I decided to fast as well. My grandma told us about the importance of fasting so both my sister and I started keeping all our fasts. Since then, the only time I haven't fasted is when I was ill."

Nadeem, who is in Grade 9 at Vaughan Secondary School, takes his responsibility seriously so when his mother suggested he skip a fast when he had three matches to play, he refused.

"It's tough. I get tired easier and very thirsty but my grandma told me that the purpose and intention of fasting is to follow your normal everyday routine and also to feel hunger and thirst so we know how people without food and drink feel.

"So I fast, go to play, break my fast in between with water, juice or fruit and then come home and eat a proper meal when I'm done. I like it."

"Food isn't a priority for my kids," complains Barbara, who must chase after them to ensure they eat something nourishing after a day 
of fasting.

"However, fasting offers them a strict spiritual regimen while sports gives them a stringent discipline (for) their body, so it's a well-rounded lifestyle that is obviously good for them because they continue to pray hard and play hard."

Barbara explains "when Sofia and Nadeem started keeping their Ramadan fasts four years ago, their grandmother, who lives with us, thought that they're young kids for whom fasting was not yet obligatory, so they must be snacking and drinking water at school or during the day.

"Then one day, about two Ramadans ago, Sofia brought home two chocolate bars and kept them in front of her plate at the time of breaking the fast. When her grandma asked why she hadn't eaten them, Sofia said 'they were given to us in school and I'm fasting so I saved them for after I break my fast.'

"Since then, our respect for the kids has grown. We appreciate their commitment to the faith."

Sofia encourages her Muslim friends to share her commitment

"There are only a few students who fast in my school," she says, "and sometimes when they eat or drink by mistake, I remind them that they're fasting."

Barbara has actively helped Sofia and Nadeem practise the tenets of Islam by cutting and pasting graphics and English words on a book so the kids could learn how to perform their regular prayers step by step. Her prayer book has become quite popular with other kids as well because it's easy to follow and has an English translation of the prayers.

Barbara, a 42-year old corporate sales representative from Montreal, was not born into the Islamic faith. She embraced Islam in 1981 after reading and studying a French translation of the Qur'an.

She recalls her first Ramadan: "The days were much longer and the fasts lasted about 18 hours, so it was difficult. I was familiar with the idea of fasting since I come from a Catholic family and we fasted during Lent, but the Muslim fast is the most stringent and needs more discipline.

"It was a great spiritual and physical cleansing and I realized for the first time how people without food and water feel."

'I realized for the first time how people without bread and water feel' Barbara was supported and encouraged by her husband, Tariq, whom she married in 1982 at Toronto's Bayview Mosque. Tariq works in real estate but his first love is singing.

"I helped Barbara not only in understanding and accepting Islam but also in learning Urdu- my native tongue from Pakistan- which she now speaks fluently and also sings with me."

Tariq, 46, gives Barbara credit for helping the children understand and practice Islam.

"We never wanted any conflict for the kids so I'm overwhelmed when I see Sofia and Nadeem fasting seriously. My mother and Barbara have both been great role models for them, but the kids show amazing willpower specially in pursuing their hobbies while observing a pillar of their faith."

So how does the Mumtaz family deal with Christmas, given that Barbara's entire family celebrates this festival?

"Normally in the holiday season, we visit my family in Montreal every alternate year because Christmas day is also Tariq's mum's birthday so we take turns being at home one year and in Montreal the other," says Barbara.

"This year is a year to remain here, but when we are in Montreal we participate in everything except praying in church. I feel that even though I've converted to Islam, I can't forget my past traditions.

"The change has been easy for me because the core values are the same and my family is supportive of my new faith."

Nadeem and Sofia love having the best of both worlds. "On Christmas when we go to our grandfather's house in Montreal, we exchange gifts and on Eid we get money," Nadeem says.

"Even if we are fasting, like last year, we still go and celebrate with them, and eat all the goodies at night," Sofia adds. "Food is not so important, but it's nice to be there."

Tariq heartily approves of the family's participation in Christmas celebrations. "It helps us learn tolerance, which is an important lesson anytime, but especially during Ramadan because the message is one of charity, tolerance, self-control and respect for others.

"Barbara has been such an icon of strength and support for our family, that we like sharing her traditions. I think it will make us all better human beings and more secure in our own faith, when we learn to share."

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