© Longview News-Journal
Reprinted by permission

11-23-02

A time of fasting

Ramadan tradition challenge for Longview chef

By ROBIN GALIANO, Staff writer

For a chef who's surrounded by simmering soups and delectable desserts all day long, going without food might seem an impossible task.

But Nafie Asad, executive chef and general manager at the Summit Club, passes up even the smallest morsel of food or drink from sunup to sundown during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began this year on Nov. 6.

Asad, who creates recipes, oversees menu preparation, plans parties and sometimes does the cooking himself for club diners, disciplines himself to avoid even a drop of water until the lunar month of Ramadan is over. He admits his job working with food makes fasting more difficult. When Ramadan began this year, one of his employees had jury duty, which meant Asad knew he'd be doing the cooking himself that day.

"As soon as I saw the Summit Club, I felt hungry," he said, with a smile. "Certainly, the food is there. I look at it as a jihad, a struggle. Fasting is certainly a struggle. It's a personal challenge. To the fasting person, there are two things to be happy about. When you break the fast, you're happy to be allowed to eat again. And you also know that you have fulfilled your duty."

The discipline of fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with reciting the witness that there is no God except Allah and Muhammad is his prophet; offering daily prayers five times a day; giving a percentage of personal wealth to the poor; and making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

The other four pillars are rather public demonstrations of faith. But fasting is something no one else sees, a matter between adherents and God alone.

"It's a self-control. Where a human being is tested is knowing that no one else sees but God," Asad said. "Certainly it's difficult. But this challenge is to obey, to fulfill your obligation. No doubt we get hungry. No doubt we get thirsty. Also men and women don't get together sexually while fasting. We give this up willingly without anyone holding anything over your head."

For Asad, giving up coffee is one of the hardest things. During Ramadan, Muslims are not even allowed to swallow an aspirin for caffeine-withdrawal headaches.

"You have to suffer the pain," he said.

Pregnant women, the elderly, small children and those who are ill are not required to fast. The month of fasting ends with a feast known as the Eid al-Fitr, usually a communal meal. For Muslims in East Texas, it includes the Piney Woods custom of grilling meat or barbecuing, Asad said.

Although fasting teaches a person physical self-control, there's more to it than simply avoiding food, Asad said.

"It is also fasting from anger, being rude, cursing, being ugly — all forms of being bad. After the month is over, you have retrained yourself whether it's patience, kindness or food. All of that is retraining." Born in Jordan and raised in Kuwait, Asad came to the United States to study and earned a degree in marketing. He moved to Jacksonville in 1980 and lives in Tyler with his wife and three daughters. His wife, a former Seventh Day Adventist, converted to Islam several years after the couple was married.

"She was not under obligation. In fact, I did not know she had done it," Asad said.

His wife is not fasting this year because she is pregnant with the couple's fourth child. And the Asads' daughters, who are 8, 6 and 3, are already anxious to fast, trying it for a half or three-quarters of a day. "When it's their time, they will be able to do it," Asad said.

On the job, Asad excuses himself several times a day for his regular prayer. Summit Club employees know where to find him — a ninth floor dining room where a linen tablecloth lies folded and waiting on the floor.

Standing, then bowing from the waist, and finally kneeling prostrate with his head to the floor, Asad recites his daily prayers in series of repetitions. In a few minutes, he's back on the job.

"The new employees are the ones who wonder," Asad said. "I've had people see me kneeling and say, ‘Are you OK?’ But I have been really blessed. The staff here are all understanding and tolerant."

During Ramadan, many Muslims increase the number of their daily prayers. They also read through the Koran during this holiest of months. Asad attends a reading each day at the East Texas Islamic Society in Tyler, where he serves on the board of directors.

But fasting is the hallmark of the holy month. It helps Muslims achieve a sense of self-purification and renewed focus on spirituality, Asad said.

"There's something very unique about fasting. I have found personally that my productivity during Ramadan is much better. I don't have to deal with food and times to eat, or the results of digesting food. Work makes me not think about it. It makes the time go faster."

For Muslims everywhere, practicing their faith is still a bit stressful. Still under the shadow of 9-11, this year also brought the threat of war against Iraq and the publicity over a Muslim who was arrested as a random sniper in the Washington, D.C. area.

Asad said attitudes in East Texas toward Muslims are mostly positive, but Islam is under the spotlight.

In his leadership role at the Tyler mosque, he would hear if there were any negative incidents, he added. "We feel a sense of being uncomfortable. This year is sensitive for us. Talk of war is not a pleasant thing for us. But in this area here, people are wonderful. I have seen nothing but tolerance in East Texas."