Ramadan occurs during the Islamic lunar calendar’s ninth month and every day during this month Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in complete fast.
Ahmed has been taking part in the ritual for his whole adult life, and said he is looking forward to the challenge this year of fasting, and training simultaneously.
“I’ll speak to the coaches and Burgey (Peter Burge, Saints’ Elite Performance Manager) about it, seeing the nutrition side of things and what I should be eating at night,” Ahmed said.
“I’ve never really trained and fasted during the day because I’ve usually had to work then I’d go to training and I’d still be fasting until I get home at about 8/9 o’clock.
“It’s going to be interesting this year to see how I go, but I’m sure we will all work it out. It will be good; I’m definitely looking forward to it.
“They’ll tell me what to eat or what not to eat at night so looking forward to it.”
Despite the potential difficulties of a full training schedule in conjunction with the fasting, the 22-year-old small forward is persistent in partaking.
“I’ve been doing it for the last 10 or 11 years. A lot of people wake up during the night to just eat so they can last through the day, some people don’t. It just depends on whether you’re used to it and how you grew up. But I’ll definitely be doing it this year.”
In his first year at the Saints, Ahmed is also representing the League as a multicultural ambassador, participating in talks and appearances to promote multiculturalism in the AFL, and he believes their work is paying off.
“Both the AFL and the club have been really supportive when it comes to (my religion). The club’s pretty much offered me a room just to pray in, as well as that, the AFL have introduced it into all the grounds at Etihad and the MCG.”
“We’ve got prayer rooms for anyone who wants to pray during the game, and it’s not just for Muslims, it’s for every religion so I think the AFL has been great and so has the club.”
“It just goes to show that no matter what nationality or religion you are, if you’re good enough and you do the hard work early and be committed you will make it because they can’t say no to talent and hardworking players.”
