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Yasmeen Zamamiri will spend the first few days of the month-long Ramadan religious observance, which begins at sunrise today, alongside family in Greensboro — fasting and praying together, and then gathering for a special meal after sundown.

When the college junior leaves for Chapel Hill next week, she won’t feel alone — even if campus cooking isn’t quite the same as her mother’s meals during the holy Muslim observance.

“As a freshman I was nervous because I had never celebrated Ramadan outside of the house,” said Zamamiri, 19 , a graduate of Ragsdale High School who attends the Islamic Center of the Triad . “Realizing there were 100 other students going through the same nostalgia of missing those homecooked meals made it better.”

The month of prayer and fasting is a basic responsibility for people of her faith. Ramadan is the month when Muslims believe Allah revealed the Quran to the prophet Muhammad. From sun-up to sundown, Muslims abstain from food, drink, tobacco, sex and other pleasures as a way of practicing self-restraint and renewing their faith.

Because Islam follows a lunar calendar, Ramadan shifts each year on Western calendars. Ramadan ends Sept. 20 with Eid al-Fitr, the three-day Feast of the Breaking of the Fast — a communal prayer and meal.

“By all means, I miss being at home, but it’s really nice to have 100 people your age going through the same thing,” said Zamamiri, a member of the UNC Muslim Student Association , a campus organization that also provide students with support in the faith. “We do a lot of the activities you would do at home, on campus.”

For Zamamiri, that means gathering for daily prayers with others in reserved rooms on campus — and breaking bread together at the end of the day.

Sometimes the families of students in the area will cook for 100 and bring the food on campus.

During the month, they’ll also sponsor a “fast-a-thon” with other students to raise money for local food shelters. “We do a lot of projects together that keep us in the Ramadan spirit,” she said.

Still, she plans to go back home for Eid al-Fitr at the month’s end.

“I would love to be back with my family.”

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com