The Muslim Student Association will host Think Fast tonight at 6:30 in Molly Shi Boren Ballroom in Oklahoma Memorial Union.

The purpose of Think Fast is to make people more aware of the Muslim culture and inform people on what the holiday of Ramadan is all about, said Ameara Elyazgi, elementary education senior.

Elyazgi is part of the committee that plans Think Fast.

"As Muslims, we fast the whole day, every day, from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan," Elyazgi said.

Muslims eat an early breakfast and fast from everything but water until sunset, Elyazgi said. After sunset, they can eat a dinner.

"It's actually a way to be more healthy," Elyazgi said.

The Muslim Student Association tries to encourage students to participate in the fasting, Elyazgi said. They are encouraging everyone to fast for at least one whole day. If people can't or don't want to fast the whole day, then they encourage people to at least fast from lunch.

Tables will be in the union today with places to donate money to a charity, Elyazgi said. They are encouraging people to fast during lunch then donate the money they would have spent. Those who donate will get a free T-shirt.

The day will end with Think Fast 2005. At this event, there will be Muslim food and a presentation on Ramadan and the Muslim culture, Elyazgi said.

"Think Fast is aimed more towards non-Muslims than Muslims," said Adeel Khan, psychology and mathematics junior and social chair of the event. "(Think Fast) is meant to give people a proper view of Islam, not what you see on the media."

This is the third annual Think Fast, Khan said. He said each year it gets better, and the Muslim Student Association would like to continue the tradition.

The event gets better because of things such as the preparation, said Mehdi Quazilbash, chemical engineering senior and vice president of the Muslim Student Association.

"Each year, we learn from our mistakes and don't do them again," Quazilbash said.

"Planning [for Think Fast] is generally pretty expensive," Khan said.

Reasons for the high cost include reserving the ballroom, advertising and the food, Khan said. The main reason for the high cost of the food is the meat which has to be prepared a certain way, which is called halal.

Khan said Think Fast is for anyone who wants to come and is the Muslim Student Association's fall signature event.

The month of Ramadan is supposed to be spiritually uplifting, kind of a training camp for the rest of the year, Elyazgi said.

Besides fasting for the month, Muslims try to abstain from things such as sexual activity and causing harm to others.

The program of Think Fast will include a greeting by the Muslim Student Association's president, a dinner after breaking from fasting for the day, a brief presentation from the vice president and a speech by Barbara Boyd, religious studies director.

Quazilbash will give the brief presentation.

"(The presentation) will be about what fasting entails and the benefits of fasting and my experiences," Quazilbash said.
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