Ramadan In The Workplace: No Food, Water On Even The Longest Of Days
Many people can't get through a workday without their morning coffee, much less a meal, but starting Thursday, millions of American Muslim employees will go about their days without food or drink for more than 16 hours at a time.
During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins Wednesday at sundown and ends, on the East Coast, on July 17, able and observant Muslims will forgo all food and drink, including water, from the first light of dawn to sunset.
With Ramadan encompassing the longest days of the year and the heat of summer this year, that makes landscaper Shemsedin Rexhepi's dedication to the fast all the more remarkable.
"When Ramadan starts, I'm not working as I regularly work all the time," Rexhepi said. "When you do not fast, I drink water all the time. I work hard, never stop."
The physically demanding nature of landscape work requires Rexhepi, 39, to alter the daily schedule of his Unionville-based company, U&G Landscape and Masonry, more than other Muslims might have to when working indoors at a desk job.
"I start the job early when it's still cool," Rexhepi said. "Sometimes I cool myself. I've got a shirt and I put water on it and I put it on my head and it just cools you down. I take a break sometimes. I don't really work ... the full day, like 7 p.m. I try to clock a little bit early, like 3:30, 4 p.m."
Rexhepi said the first thing he does when getting ready for Ramadan is mental preparation. He finds solace in his prayer to psychologically prepare himself for the coming month.
"Of course I'm afraid a little bit that maybe I'm not going to be able because it's too hot," Rexhepi said. "But I just pray and I say, 'Hopefully God will help to pass this month, fasting the best I can.'"
Still, Rexhepi said, the fast is not so hard after the first one or two days, a common theme among experienced fasters.
"Usually, the first two days, the hardest part is the lack of caffeine if you're a caffeine addict like myself," said Ola Ghoneim, an assistant professor at the University of St. Joseph School of Pharmacy. "No coffee in the morning makes the day a little dizzy."
While many school systems slow down during the summer, the pharmacy program at St. Joseph is year-round, leaving Ghoneim to manage classes with about 90 students throughout Ramadan.
"You have to plan ahead," she said. She works hard the week before Ramadan so she can dial it back a little the first two days.
Ghoneim, 45, said her co-workers and bosses at St. Joseph are more than accommodating to her needs. She is allowed to adjust her schedule, often working through her lunch hour so she can head home a little early.
After the body has adjusted to the Ramadan eating schedule, Ghoneim said, it's important to avoid feeling deflated. Eating is as much a social activity as it is a physical necessity, so it is easy to feel left out. She still goes out to lunches and meetings with her colleagues, even though she does not eat.
Ramadan commemorates the time when Muslims believe Allah sent the Prophet Muhammad the revelations that would become the Quran. Muslims fast during the holy month as a lesson in self-restraint, teaching them compassion for the needy, a sense of self-purification, and an emphasis on spiritual matters.
"Ramadan, the idea is to feel how the poor people feel. It is a month of giving. It's about giving, not suffering," Ghoneim said. "In the work field, it's the same way. You just have to teach the people around you. You make it more like a teaching moment so you don't feel like you are isolated."
Fasting, Food Everywhere
Mohamad Agha, 45, is co-owner and manager of Aladdin Halal, a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Hartford. Agha concedes that the restaurant, which has a loyal Muslim customer base, slows down a bit during Ramadan.
During Ramadan, most people prefer to break that fast at home, though on weekends they might eat out.
"We don't get very busy," Agha said. "Sometimes we make the food outside here and we give them the food for free, as a compliment for Ramadan."
While business might slow, it doesn't stop.
Does working all day surrounded by the smell of falafel and shawarma meat make fasting that much tougher? Agha and his employees said it's really not that much different from a normal fast.
"We've been fasting since I was like 8 years old, so fasting is not a big issue for us," Agha said. "Close to sunset time, we feel tired. Your power grows less and less, but that's normal."
"For everyone, it's hard the first day, the second day, that's it. We're used to it," said Khalid Hared, a New Britain resident who works in the kitchen. "You're working fast to get [the food] out of here, so you don't really have the time to think about it."
In fact, Agha insists he has it easy. He gets to sit in the air conditioning all day.
"If I work, I'm just going to ask my manager, 'Just keep me away from the weather outside.' That's the only thing," Agha said. "If you're going to be outside in the summertime hot, you're going to get thirsty very fast. That hurts more than food."
Employers Take Note
While some Muslims will tell you the fast is not so bad, the nature of their work might necessitate certain accommodations to remain productive throughout the day.
"During the normal course of a work year, you need to be able to go to Friday prayers and have short breaks for prayers during the day.All of which is not that hard to do," said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "During Ramadan, it becomes an issue of 'well, can I switch a shift so I'm working during the dark when I can eat?'"
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers have a legal obligation to provide employees with reasonable religious accommodations. However, employees are expected to inform their bosses as to what accommodations they might need.
"It really involves a dialogue and communication between employees and employers," said Steven Freeman, national director of legal affairs for the Anti-Defamation League. "Our policy for a prospective employee is to be direct and open with an employer and give them as much notice as possible."
Employers should remain aware and conscious of the needs of their fasting employees, but according to Khamis Abu-Hasaballah, they should not fear prolonged drops in productivity.
"The productivity question is really more in the Middle East and other Muslim countries where the whole country literally comes to a stop," said Abu-Hasaballah, an assistant vice president at the University of Connecticut and president of the Farmington Valley American Muslim Center. "This country, as a professional here, I've actually found my time to be more productive in Ramadan because I don't have to worry about food, drinks, bathroom breaks."
Kaiser Aslam, the youth director at Farmington Valley center, said people often make the mistake of assuming the fast requires Muslims to ease up on their work.
"Ramadan, how it's supposed to be, is this is just another part of the year," Aslam said. "You focus a little bit more on some religious practices, you reflect a little bit more, but you're not supposed to let go of your productivity."
Source : courant.com
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