As Faisal Alrsheed faced his first Ramadan away from his home in Saudi Arabia, he was comforted by hearing familiar voices on the phone Sunday.

"My family called and said 'Ramadan Kareem,'" the chemistry freshman said. "I felt happy because they are people who are remembering me during Ramadan."

A traditional greeting such as "Ramadan Kareem" will be shared by many in the Muslim community this month, as today marks the beginning of Ramadan. It is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and one of the holiest for the religion.

For the next 29 or 30 days, many of the approximately 1.5 billion Muslims in the world will be united in fasting from dawn to dusk, said Sani Abbas, president for the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing, 920 S. Harrison Road.

"All Muslims have been anxious," Abbas said. "The whole idea is to gain closeness to God and be more conscious and God fearing.

"This is the whole essence of the fast."

As one of the five pillars of Islam, Muslims must fast during Ramadan and are encouraged to break their fast among family and friends after sundown. During the day, Muslims not only abstain from food and drink but activities such as sex and swearing while continuing the Muslim traditions of praying five times and reading the Quran.

Abbas said all of these activities contribute to growing closer to God.

"The idea of the fasting is not for health reasons but that might be a fringe benefit," he said. "You evaluate yourself and how the year went and if you kept your goals from the Ramadan before. Nobody will know but God because he sees and hears you."

Alrsheed said, in Saudi Arabia, the work day was shortened to allow for more social time but he anticipates it will be a different situation this year.

"(I'm) not nervous but excited, it's a new thing for my life," he said. "Ramadan is different here, it is a normal month. There aren't a lot of people who know about Ramadan so my life routine won't change a lot."

Although this month will be Alrsheed's introduction to Ramadan in the United States, 2005 graduate Samrin Ateequi said she knows what it is like to fast while most of the community around her is not.

Ateequi, who lived with her parents in Lansing during her four years at MSU, said she never altered her religious or academic routines during the month.

"My non-Muslim friends would ask why I am not eating during lunch but they understood," she said. "Not eating on campus wasn't a big deal because you are busy with classes and other things and time flies by. The hardest part was having to get up to go to classes but fasting isn't difficult."

Ateequi was involved in the Muslim Students' Association, or MSA, and she would participate in several of the activities they offered.

"I didn't live on campus but my whole day was basically there, I'd come home to sleep and be gone again," she said. "MSA was basically like my second home.

"Everyday when you broke your fast, people got together, you felt like you are at home doing it."

Since arriving in the United States, Alrsheed has befriended several Muslim students who plan to break their day's fast together.

He said he looks forward to having companions during his fast.

"You feel there are some people in the same situation," he said. "They fast, they pray, their values are the same. I have a friend in Montana, he prays alone and does everything alone so it is difficult for him.

"I'm happy that I'm not in that situation - souls need souls."

Abbas said some factors of college life can make Ramadan a difficult time for students.

"The fast is more difficult with the classes and the environment," he said. "I always advise them to be observant that fasting is not just abstaining from food and water but from what your eyes gaze and what you hear and say. It will account for how sound your fasting is."

Abbas added that he encourages students to place themselves in situations where they won't be bombarded by bad things and suggested they spend more time in the mosque or reading the Quran.

Despite being in new surroundings, Alrsheed said he is looking forward to Ramadan.

"I love this month," he said. "I'm trying (to achieve the goals of Ramadan), that's all I can say."

Maggie Lillis can be reached at lillisma@msu.edu.