Senior Yahya Mirza stared down the track. He had not had any food or water in over 12 hours because he was fasting for Ramadan, and he was about to run a 400-meter race. Fatigue and weakness weighed him down as he took his place on a lane, anticipating the painstaking race before him.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he made it through. After finishing the track meet, Mirza was physically drained, but his spirits were lifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized that there are many other people who do (track) while fasting,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave me a new appreciation for the mental strength involved in the halal lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mirza is one of many Muslims who partake in a halal lifestyle. This lifestyle is based on the concepts of \u201chalal\u201d (allowed or permissible) and \u201charam\u201d (forbidden), which are taught in the Quran, the sacred scripture of Islam. The natural state of everything is halal, and things are haram only if specified in the Quran \u2014 pork, for example, is haram because pigs are considered unclean. These concepts apply to aspects of life beyond food, including social norms and individual beliefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cUniversally, (the halal lifestyle) is no pork, no alcohol, no drugs,\u201d Mirza said. \u201cBut there\u2019s more to it with the halal
\nlifestyle. I see the halal lifestyle as my moral code, along with the Islamic moral code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freshman Hana Siddeek, who is also Muslim, noted that the distinctions between haram and halal aren\u2019t always simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some circumstances nowadays where there\u2019s not something specifically stated, so you have to use logic and reason and the sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to infer the right decision,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s also varying degrees of disliked, allowed, permissible and encouraged.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strictness with which the lifestyle is followed also varies. Siddeek and her family are flexible with some things because of their personal beliefs and choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cGelatine is sometimes taken from the insides of a pig, so a lot of Muslims won\u2019t eat gelatine unless it\u2019s halal gelatine,\u201d
\nshe said. \u201cBut my parents (took) a class and their teacher told them that gelatine is chemically reformed \u2014 it\u2019s a completely different thing and not actually pork. So, I eat gelatine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, finding food options can be difficult. Students may opt for vegetarian options simply because finding halal-certified food options can be challenging. While Mirza has faced these difficulties, he also noted that those at Gunn do their best to make allowances.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t necessarily eat (school lunch) depending on which family you\u2019re from,\u201d Mirza said. \u201cPeople (at Gunn) are supportive and they understand the restrictions that I have. I feel like Gunn makes the halal lifestyle relatively easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside the realm of food, haram and halal also govern other aspects of daily life, including social interactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can hang out with my friends just fine, but if my friends are making bets or playing poker, I just don\u2019t put any money in,\u201d Mirza said. \u201c(Living halal) also teaches me how to create my own boundaries so people don\u2019t cross them.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Siddeek, part of living halal is not dating.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t date,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a reason why I prefer juvenile fiction, because a lot of the young-adult fiction features people doing stuff that they wouldn\u2019t normally do unless they were married, but they\u2019re not married. That makes me a little uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramadan is still another crucial aspect of living halal. During this sacred ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast, waking up before sunrise for a meal and praying afterward. While fasting, Muslims do not eat or drink, including water. Prayers are segmented throughout the day: dawn (\u201cFajr\u201d), early afternoon (\u201cDhuhr\u201d), later afternoon (\u201cAsr\u201d), sunset (\u201cMaghrib\u201d) and evening (\u201cIsha\u201d).<\/p>\n
These daily prayers allow Mirza time for introspection. While he tries to pray five times a day, most days outside of Ramadan, he prays once in the early morning and once before bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving halal affects me in a positive manner because every (day) through prayer, I get to reflect upon my own feelings
\nand show gratitude towards my own life,\u201d he said. While many of Siddeek\u2019s experiences with Islam have been shaped by her parents, she has gradually learned to embrace and interpret the religion in her own way.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I learn about (Islam), I\u2019ve started to (follow) it more of my own accord because I understand it,\u201d she said. \u201cJust learning by myself and learning from my parents\u2019 guidance has helped me to live this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Senior Yahya Mirza stared down the track. He had not had any food or water in over 12 hours because he was fasting for Ramadan, and he was about to run a 400-meter race. Fatigue and weakness weighed him down as he took his place on a lane, anticipating the painstaking race before him. Nevertheless,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":26918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9548,1],"tags":[604493732,604493733,705],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26911"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26916,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26911\/revisions\/26916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}