With the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world started their fast March 1. 

When fasting during Ramadan, Muslims cannot eat from sunrise until sunset. The minutes get further every day, which means that fasting gets longer. There are also five prayers during the day that Muslims recite.

Since last year, OHS has been giving Muslims time to pray Dhuhr during the day, which is the second of the five prayers and should be recited sometime between 12-3 p.m. To accommodate Muslim students at school, administration created a process so that students are able to fulfill this worship while at school. Prior to Ramadan starting, administration asked that all students who would like to participate in prayers at school get a form signed by their parents and submit it to the office. 

“I like what they did. It’s better than last year. I like how they made it into forms and stuff,” Aidin Nuhanovic (11) said. “It’s more organized compared to last year — it was messy and we did not know what we were doing.”

During the school day, those participating are allowed to leave class between 1:00-1:40 p.m. to wash up, get ready and pray. Since this is after school lunch, the school custodians are preparing the cafeteria every day before students start their prayers as well. Assistant principal Dr. Matt Gaglio even spoke to an Imam (Muslim priest) from the St. Louis Islamic Center about prayers during school to try and improve things as best as possible. 

“He gave me a lot of information regarding Ramadan prayers, as well as overall Islamic traditions, rituals and perspectives,” Gaglio said. “He came up to OHS and we walked around the building, giving multiple options for what we could accommodate…”

While the school is doing its best to accommodate the religious practices of a large population of its students, Islamic students participating in the school prayers are expected to come to them with a respectful attitude as well. 

“I am trying to improve myself and get closer to God and really focus on my religion,” Muki Satara (10) said. “I think this prayer room will go smoothly.”  

Along with being more organized and giving students time to pray, staff also gave students who are fasting a chance to go to the library during lunch.

“The prayer rooms are way more organized this year. Last year the room was crowded, and this year we have more room and it’s flexible,” Rizvan Bektic (10) said. “Both this year and last year they let us go to the library to chill during lunch.” 

As administration worked toward being flexible during this process and being mindful of what Muslim students require during Ramadan, head principal Brian Brennan feels that it overall helps our community. 

“…So I think the more we understand each other,” principal Brian Brennan said, “and the more we are able to help accommodate each other, the stronger we become, the better people we are.”