Make no mistake. This is no Thanksgiving feast.

Sure, part of the emphasis during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is to gather with friends and family and to show appreciation for God’s blessings. However, the 30-day period is no season of gluttonous revelry, as Muslims must abstain from food, water, smoking and sexual relations during the day.

Despite the physical challenges, Patterson resident Malek DeLane says the practice of abstinence and spiritual focus brings great rewards, including increasing one’s consciousness of God in everyday life.

“To me, it’s a privilege,” DeLane said of participation in Ramadan. “Because to me, the banquet is the fasting.”

DeLane is one of a growing number of Muslims in Patterson — and one among dozens of local residents who are commemorating the month of fasting. For Muslims, Ramadan marks the time when the angel Gabriel began to reveal to the prophet Mohammed the words of the Quran, the holy book to which they adhere. Fasting during Ramadan is considered one of the five pillars of Islam, the main requirements of the Muslim faith.

Although Muslims have resided in Patterson since at least 1990, the number of local adherents skyrocketed during the past decade following an influx of new residents.

DeLane estimates there are at least 25 Muslim families in town these days, though no official information exists on local residents’ religious beliefs. Patterson’s Muslims come from literally all over the world — the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Fiji and Asia, as well as the United States.

Mohammed Obeid, a Muslim who has lived in Patterson since 2000, said most local Muslims he knows do not interact much on a regular basis. He noted that many Patterson Muslims gather at the Modesto Mosque, and there is nowhere to meet in town.

But DeLane, who has lived in Patterson for about a year and a half, hopes that situation will change. He says he is looking for potential sites to house an Islamic center in Patterson, where local Muslims could pray and where basic classes in Islam would be taught.

DeLane said Islam is often misunderstood by Americans because of differences in language and culture. For instance, contrary to the beliefs of many Westerners, he stressed that Islam is not supposed to be spread through violence, noting that the Quran says, “There is no compulsion in religion.” He said acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam should be attributed to the people who commit those acts and not to the religion that they claim.

DeLane’s wife, Jennine DeLane, also has helped educate people about her faith, making staff members at Apricot Valley Elementary School aware of Muslim issues. For instance, she wrote Principal Jose Sanchez a few months ago to ask that students and parents be told when pork products were being served. Muslims are forbidden to eat pork, and their meat must be prepared in a prescribed manner. She said Sanchez worked to address the issue immediately.

Sanchez said he believed the matter was a health issue, as he did not want children to go hungry. He also stressed that all students at the culturally diverse school should feel welcome.

On Aug. 28, Jennine DeLane also spoke to Apricot Valley first-graders about Ramadan at the request of first-grade teacher Angela Fish, who teaches the DeLanes’ daughter. Jennine DeLane described the process of fasting and mentioned how Muslims focus on self-improvement during Ramadan.

Teacher Melissa Partsch, who said she was impressed with the presentation, said that the school hopes to educate students about different cultures, particularly those represented at the school. However, it can be a challenge because some cultures are based in religion, she said. State and federal laws prevent teachers from advocating religion in the classroom.

“We walk a very fine line,” she said.

While the children’s books that Jennine DeLane read in the class made reference to “the Most High” and to a person in the mosque who said “God is great,” Partsch noted that DeLane never told children what they should believe, and she said the presentation fit the qualifications for what is appropriate in a classroom setting.

Like Apricot Valley, other schools in Patterson — and in the San Joaquin Valley in general — also have seen an increase in Muslim students in recent years. Sammy Mahmud, a math teacher at Patterson High School and a Muslim, noted there appears to be far more Muslims there today than there were at Turlock High School when he attended there less than a decade ago.

Three members of the Patterson High varsity football team are Muslims and must refrain from consuming food and water during these days of preseason practices. Two of the DeLanes’ sons also play soccer — one at Patterson High and the other on a Danville traveling team. Rajaee DeLane, who plays with the Danville-based Mustang Development Academy soccer program, said it is important for him not to overextend himself on the field and to try to stay out of the sun.

“I’m just thinking about being in the moment,” he said. “I try to relax. I may not be able to play to the best of my ability.”

Patterson High senior and football player Ashraf Aziz said he drinks a lot of water in the morning, though he said most of that water is out of his system by the time of afternoon practice. Still, he seemed nonchalant about the sacrifices he was making, noting that he has been raised Muslim and that this is his third year of fasting.

Malek DeLane stressed that Ramadan is not supposed to be a mere a test of the will. He noted that some people he has talked to in the past have said that they can fast even longer than sunup to sundown, but that ultimately misses the point.

“It’s about submission, and it’s about obedience,” Malek DeLane said. “It’s not about how long you can go.”

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Facts about Islam

• Islam means “peace through the submission of God.”

• Islam is based on five pillars of faith: 1. To bear witness that there is none other than Allah, and that Mohammed is his prophet (shahadah); 2. To observe prayer (salat); 3. To pay zakat (almsgiving); 4. To fast during Ramadan; 5. To perform the pilgrimage (or hajj) to Mecca.

• There are six articles of faith in Islam. They are the belief in: 1. The One God; 2. The prophets of God; 3. The original scriptures revealed to Moses, David, Jesus and Mohammed; 4. The angels; 5. The day of judgment and the hereafter; 6. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, if financially and physically able.

• Muslims believe in the Torah (the gospel of Moses) and original Bible (the gospel of Jesus). However, they believe that the Torah and the Bible used by Jews and Christians are inaccurate translations of the original documents, and they believe that the Quran is the final, preserved revelation of God.

• Jews and Christians are both accepted as “people of the Book” within Islam, and they are generally not considered to be infidels.

• Moses and Jesus are both considered to be prophets in Islam. Although Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the son of God, they do believe that he is the Messiah.

• Islam does not allow the unjustified killing of other people or terrorism. The Quran also states that there is “no compulsion in religion,” and that Islam should not be forced on anyone.

• Islam has close to 1.2 billion adherents worldwide, according to the Council on American-Islamic relations, making up about 22 percent of the world’s population.

• The word “jihad” means “personal struggle,” and the use of the word as “holy war” is only one of many connotations in which it may be used.

• Arabs only make up about one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population. The nation with the most Muslims is Indonesia, followed by Pakistan and then India.

• The word “Allah” is the Arabic word for God, and it is also used by most Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians.

Information taken from meccacentric.com and aneki.com