Hassan Alaouie: "Look upon yourself more as a server ..."

Hassan Alaouie, 27, is a software engineer, a father of two and an active member at his Muslim center. He talks about how the weeks of fasting work on one’s heart to discover that faith isn’t merely about how much we may receive as individuals. This is a powerful theme that members of other faiths can appreciate.

A lot of people think that Ramadan is about starvation. You know, a lot of people may think that we’re just starving ourselves for a noble cause and that’s all it is. But there’s so much more to Ramadan. It’s a time of bonding, of thinking, of spending time together, of learning what we should be doing in the world.
    There’s fun. One thing we do is enjoy more TV together. There are a lot of religious programs on TV at this time of year if you have a satellite dish. I remember there’s this one song that would come on every year. We loved that song: “99 Names of Allah.” Now, I’ve moved into my own house and I don’t have a dish, but I’ll tell you I was thinking about getting a dish just to hear that old song again.
    And, we help a lot more in the family. We can’t eat. We do get to feeling tired during the day. So, it’s a good time to spend with the family just helping each other. Like, if we’re at my Mom’s house, we’ll help her set the table, do chores for her, help with the cooking. Of course, Mom always yells at us because we’re not cutting up the vegetables fine
enough. (He laughs fondly.) But it’s true that we spend a lot more
time around the home helping each other.
    Ramadan tenders the heart.
    It makes you evaluate things. You’re not just doing things randomly as you hurry through the day. You’re thinking about each thing. Will I put this spoon of food into my mouth? What am I really trying to say as I am writing this note during my work day? What am I doing as I’m talking on the phone to this person? I’m thinking more about each moment in my day.
    You start to think about more than your physical actions. You start thinking about your spiritual choices: Doing what’s good and avoiding what’s evil. You look more deeply into what we’re being taught about the world.
    Last year, I had one child. This year, I have two children. I’m a father with a 2-year-old girl, Hala, and an 8-month-old boy, Haidar. I’m also getting more involved in volunteering activities at the mosque.
    As you think about this during the fast, you begin to look upon yourself more as a server rather than just as someone who is only thinking about being a recipient of God’s blessings.
    In this way, I think we do make the world better.

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