While Catholics spent last weekend trying to decide what to give up for Lent, a couple dozen men and women quietly began the process of reaffirming their religious beliefs here in State College.

In an ornate building set back in the woods near the Blue Course, they solemnly removed their shoes and kneeled down to pray. Their children were running around them laughing and laboring over Arabic math tables -- for the most part unaware of the event's significance.

The children continued to play, speaking in sentences of mixed Arabic and English, to the musical sound of a centuries-old prayer, the last of five for the day.

The gathering and prayer are part of the observance of the holy month in the Islamic lunar calendar year, which began Saturday.

And although some people decided to give up chocolate or alcohol for Lent, during the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims give up all food consumption, including water, between sunrise and sunset.

"(The fasting) is to make you stronger . . . if you can go without food you can also have strength to do right," said Magdi Mashaly, president of the the Islamic Society of Central Pennsylvania and associate professor of poultry science. Fasting also helps observers understand the suffering of the poor and starving, he added.

Children usually begin fasting after puberty, but parents encourage an understanding of the practice before that, and children often like to fast partially to imitate their parents.

But college students encounter some difficulty balancing their religious duties with college life.

"It's harder (in college) because when you know a lot of people doing it . . . it doesn't seem as out of the ordinary," said Imran Khan (freshman-premedicine), president of the Muslim Student Association.

He said he got used to being hungry after the first few days. "But I have to wake up at 4:45 in the morning to eat," Khan said.

The prayers are spoken in unison because there is no holy division within the Islamic religion, but the men and women pray in different levels of the mosque. Both the separation of sexes and the communal prayer are tenets of the religion, said Abdalhameed Alkhateeb, vice president of the society.

Alkhateeb went on to explain that observing Ramadan is one of the five requirements of the Muslim religion.

The other four are acknowledgement of one god, Allah, and his prophet Mohammed, charity to the poor, a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city Mecca and five daily prayers. The prayers must take place at sunrise, early and late afternoon, sunset and two hours after sunset.

"The Muslim is constantly reminded of God," Alkhateeb said, explaining the frequency of praying.

Extra prayers and study of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, are also part of Ramadan, which lasts the length of the lunar month --between 29 or 30 days.