Sign of hope: SAN JOSE / Joining Muslims in Ramadan fast, one hungry Mormon police chief.
Not once did Rob Davis think about breaking his commitment to his Muslim constituents. Despite his long workdays, the San Jose police chief never even had a drop of water during the daylight-hours fasts for the holy month of Ramadan, which ends today. Not even on a day that Davis started in Washington, D.C. -- when he began to abstain from food and drink before sunrise at 5:30 a.m., or 2:30 a.m. California time -- and ended well into the evening with meetings in San Jose. His mouth turned cottony as he became dehydrated, but the meetings prevented him from ending his fast until 7:30 p.m.
Davis says jokingly that he had gone 17 hours without nourishment to avoid airplane food. But the fast was no laughing matter for Davis, a Mormon who decided it was important to show solidarity with the estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Muslims who live in San Jose. "Once I commit to something, I'm hard-core," Davis said. "I made a commitment, and I intend to follow the rules to the letter out of respect for what they are doing."
Davis, 47, joined about a billion Muslims worldwide in their fasts to gain a better understanding of the community. He joined families at their homes for iftar, the daily breaking of the fast. Davis has also been reading an English translation of the Quran.%
My father quotes this Quranic verse: "All those who believe in One God are Muslims."
Even if you don't believe in God, this gesture should give you some hope as a sign of respect and tolerance of Islam in these trying times.
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