Once it’s dark, after the breaking of the fast (the iftar), it’s time to celebrate; after 10:00pm CET, Muslims are once again free to eat and drink, and they often do so in the company of their entire family. ‘It’s always so fun,’ says Fatima, a first-year mathematics teacher in training. ‘I think the atmosphere is kind of like Christmas for other families. I usually don’t see my family that often, but during Ramadan we really make time for one another.’

If they have the time, the students go to their mosque at 11:30pm for evening prayers, have a quick bite to eat and a drink, and then go to sleep or sometimes even do some studying right away. ‘I can’t study properly on an empty stomach,’ says Rabab, a first-year biology teacher in training, ‘so now I study at night and go to bed once I finish school for the day, or fall asleep on the couch.’

Ramadan starts as soon as a white thread appears on the horizon

Once the distinction between night and day is visible – Bouchra, another first-year biology teacher in training, calls that ‘the white thread on the horizon’ – the fasting starts. Right now, during summer, that is at 3:00am. ‘If I have to get to school on time the next day, I go to bed after evening prayers,’ says Fatima, ‘but on the weekends, I stay up until around three, have a quick bite to eat, and then go to bed.’

Fasting not only means no food and drink (‘Including chewing gum!’), but also no sex and no cursing or other negative language. ‘Behaviour and charity are a large part of it, so we try to do as much as we can for other people every day.’

All in all, Fatima, Ensar, Bouchra, and Rabab feel like things aren’t too bad; this week in particular, because it has not been that hot. And it is quite doable to combine Ramadan with their studies as well. ‘We have been doing Ramadan for about ten years now,’ says Ensar, a first-year biology teacher in training. ‘We know our bodies, we know what fasting is like and how to best organise our day around it.’

There is plenty of respect and understanding at school

De atmosphere in each of their classes is great too. ‘I really feel as though I am being treated with respect. If any of my classmates accidentally ask me whether I would like some coffee or tea and I say no, they always immediately say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that’.’ The three biology teachers in training, Ensar, Bouchra, and Rabab agree. ‘There is plenty of respect and understanding at school.’

Is it hard prepare for and sit exams during this month of fasting? ‘No,’ Fatima says. ‘The nerves I feel before exams usually prevent me from eating much anyways.’ The other students agree that it isn’t too hard. ‘I feel extremely fit,’ Bouchra says.

‘In the final week of Ramadan, we have exams to sit and our final assignments are due then too,’ says Rabab. ‘And right after, it’s time for the feast of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan, so it will be doubly a time of celebration. I am really looking forward to that.’

Original text in Dutch: Dorine van Namen
Illustration: Bart Zwart