The Muslim Students Association's fast-a-thon – a riff on religious doctrine – draws hundreds of non-Muslim students who choose to fast for one day with their Muslim peers and attend the daily iftar banquet in the evening to break it.
More than 240 Muslim Students Associations host fast-a-thons – groups at Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University are among them – and have raised more than $50,000 for charity. Local businesses donate at least a dollar for each non-Muslim who participates.
The fast-a-thon notion started in North Texas several years ago, although it took root at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville just after 9/11. The event was intended to create a dialogue about Islam while participants engage in the charitable acts advocated during Ramadan as part of the holiday's spiritual and physical cleansing....
