SLIPPERY ROCK — In the midst of Ramadan, Muslim students at Slippery Rock University are struggling to remain true to their Islamic roots in an area where very few Muslims live.

Abbass Alkhafaji, Ph.D., professor of business and former faculty adviser for the Muslim Student Association, was born in Iraq, and moved to New Castle when he was a teenager. He said it is unfortunate that there are only 10 to 15 Muslim students attending SRU when there are 1.4 billion Muslims in the world.

"We don't recruit students from Muslim countries," Alkhafaji said. "Not many are coming to the United States, especially after Sept. 11."

He said in previous years, the MSA reserved a room between 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Fridays for prayer, but since there are fewer Muslims on campus than ever before, many students either pray by themselves, or travel to the mosque in New Castle for Friday prayer.

Pamela Frigot, director of international affairs for SRU, said the university is trying to reach out to students of all races, religions and backgrounds. She said SRU used to have twice as many international students as they have now, but it is harder to obtain a visa after Sept. 11 and there is increased competition in other countries. She said SRU does not have a formal exchange program with Muslim countries.

"It's just never happened," Frigot said. "I don't know if it was even a coincidence."

She said many Muslims look for universities in areas that are more accommodating to Islam traditions. She said they look for areas with mosques nearby and delis large enough to provide meat that is Halalil.

Halalil means the animal is slaughtered in the name of Allah, and is cut facing Mecca, Islam's holy land.

She said these factors may be detrimental to SRU because there is no mosque in Butler County, and Halalil meat is expensive and hard to find in this area.

Frigot said SRU realizes this is a problem and recently joined a consortium for educational resources in Islamic Studies. Most universities, schools and colleges in Western Pennsylvania have been working together to provide programs and resources for Muslim students.

"We've got a long way to go, but we're making progress," Frigot said.

She said SRU tries to find ways to accommodate individual needs. She said some students travel to a mosque, but others are content with having a private place for prayer.

She said Muslim students cope with non-Halalil meat in many ways. She said some stick to their old practices because they were raised to do so. She said others may change their ways based on circumstances. She said some may become vegetarian, and others may not have ever followed that at home.

She said during Ramadan, the food service on campus has been good about having a packed meal available for Muslim students before sunrise and after sunset that they can pick up at any time.

"While we can't accommodate everything, we're glad to do that for them," Frigot said. "If we went to a Muslim country, I'm sure they wouldn't be able to accommodate us in every way either."

Mehmet Erkan Cabuk, 24, a senior information technology major from Turkey, said he finds it difficult to live in America and follow his Islamic beliefs. He lives in Pittsburgh to be close to a mosque, but he sometimes has to drive to New Castle because it is closer to Slippery Rock.

He said while he is at school, he does not eat meat or many vegetarian products because it may have been cut with the same knife as a pork product. Muslims cannot eat pork because it is not kosher, a tradition they share with people of the Jewish faith.

When he is at his home in Pittsburgh, Cabuk said he found a few stores and restaurants that cut their meat Halalil, but it is still hard to find.

"I am very picky, especially during Ramadan," Cabuk said. "A lot of places don't help us either because they don't know or they don't care."

Cabuk said aside from fasting, it is very important during Ramadan to be a good person. He said if someone needs money or food, a Muslim will do his best to help them out. He also said it is important to be in the company of friends and family during Ramadan.

"If you don't invite someone in your house, you're just fasting," Cabuk said. "If you invite someone into your house and into your heart, it's meaningful."

John Hamed Jr., 22, senior exercise science major at SRU, said he understands the situation, and thinks the university is making progress with accommodating people of Islamic faith. He grew up in New Castle with a Christian mother and a Muslim father.

To show him both religions, his parents made him go to church on Sundays and the mosque on Fridays. He said he used to hate going to the mosque, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

"I don't know why I chose to be Muslim," Hamed said. "I was guided that way and not by my dad."

Hamed said at times it can be very difficult to be a Muslim in a predominately Christian county, and it is even harder living in an area where few Muslims live.

He said he gives SRU credit because with as many Muslims as they have, they shouldn't be required to accommodate them in any way.

Hamed said he is a little disappointed they no longer have MSA on campus. He said that as far as he knows, there may be one or two other Muslims, but he doesn't know them, or how to find them.

He said when he attended MSA functions in previous years, only five or six at most attended, so the situation has grown worse over his four years at the university.

"Most people I encounter know absolutely nothing about Islam," Hamed said. "They don't know how to perceive it."

During Ramadan, Hamed said he participates in the fasting from dawn to dusk. He said as one of the five pillars of Islam, fasting is very important and fairly easy, as long as the person has strong faith.

He added it is only one month out of the year, and it is the only time fasting is suggested in Islam.

"I don't have to fast now if I don't want to," Hamed said. "If I didn't, it would be bad, but no one's forcing me to fast."

He said that it's easy to get through the day and that he gets hungry, but the whole point of fasting is to feel hungry and to deprive oneself of food. Hamed said one reason he fasts is to get an understanding of what hungry people go through, which makes him realize how fortunate he is.

"If you can go through a day without basic needs like food, water and sex, and successfully abstain from those things, you can do anything.

"It teaches you willpower and how to do what's right."

Hamed is on the track team for SRU. During Ramadan, he can't just miss practices because he can't eat or drink, so he has to work extra hard to not give in to temptation.

"I just do it," Hamed said. "It's hard, and I'm exhausted after practice, but I have to."

He said he will never schedule a class on Fridays after noon because the afternoon prayer on Friday is most important.

Going to the mosque is very important to him, especially on Fridays, he said. He drives home to New Castle to pray.

"I don't care if I have to stay an extra year at this school," Hamed said. "I won't miss Friday prayer."

Hamed said he prays five times a day. He said many Muslims use a prayer rug, which originated with travelers who needed a place to pray.

"The point of it is to have a clean place to put your head during prayer," Hamed said.

"I had some roommates who used to try to make me mad by wiping their feet on it.

Hamed said he usually eats at home, especially during Ramadan. When Hamed lived on campus during his freshman year, he used to bring food from home to eat at dusk or pick up food from a dining hall and wait. He ate in his room most of the time.

"The dining halls do a good job," Hamed said. "There are not enough Muslims to change everything, but there are always things there to eat."

Hamed said he has eaten Halalil in the past, but can't do it on a regular basis because it is expensive and inconvenient.

With busy schedules and America's "on the go" lifestyle, it is a struggle for many Muslims to partake in traditions of Ramadan, Hamed said. He added that as long as a Muslim believes and tries to live a good life, everything else just seems to fall into place.

He said the trick, not only to eating, is to accept what has been given, and be grateful for it.

"You shouldn't be too picky or take anything for granted," Hamed said. "We have food and we are blessed."

During the month of Ramadan, which began Sept. 23, Muslims must give up all worldly pleasures to prove the victory of their love of Allah over the love of themselves. Islam is a religion shared by all races, with only 18 percent of Muslims being Arabic.Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which follows the lunar calendar. The start of the month is based on a combination of physical sightings of the moon and astronomical calculations. The practice varies from place to place, some places relying heavily on sighting reports and others totally on calculations. In the United States, most communities follow the decision of the Islamic Society of North America, which accepts sightings of the new moon anywhere in the United States at the start of the new month.The daily period of fasting starts at the breaking of dawn and ends at the setting of the sun. During the daylight hours, Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and marital sex. The usual practice is to have a pre-fast meal before dawn and a post-fast meal after sunset.It is a common practice for Muslims to break their fast at sunset with dates, following the custom of Prophet Muhammad. This is followed by the sunset prayer, which is followed by dinner. Muslims often invite one another to share in the Ramadan evening meal.Sources: www.iad.org/Pillars/index.html and www.colostate.edu/Orgs/MSA/events/Ramadan.html