LONDON – In his first Ramadan, David McDermot, a British Muslim who reverted to Islam last year revealed how the holy month was a positive experience which empowered him to stay healthy and curb smoking.

“I play for a football team and I didn’t want to miss a full month of training and matches. My team mates were convinced that I would become weak because I wasn’t eating or drinking water,” David told Asian Image on Thursday, June 23.

“I was on a mission to prove that my fasting would not deter my abilities on the pitch!

“Last Ramadan saw me playing the best football I ever had!

“I trained harder just to prove a point.

“I started researching Muslim football players who carried on playing major football matches during Ramadan.”

David reverted to Islam last year after a Muslim woman, who later became his wife, introduced him to the faith.

“My friends cannot understand why I converted to Islam,” says David. “So you can imagine how they don’t understand why I was putting myself through the long fasts,” he said.

David researched what foods would benefit him during Ramadan so as to not to disrupt his football regime and looked at ways at quitting cigarettes.

“I wanted to stay fit and hydrated, so I read up a lot online about the best things to eat and drink during Ramadan,” he said.

“I didn’t have any fizzy drinks. I changed my diet and ate lots of fruit and vegetables.

“I Googled the benefits of eating dates as I was told to open my fast with them.

“I found out that dates are a slow release of energy so they were perfect.

“The most difficult thing about fasting was not the hunger or the thirst, but the lack of sleep.

“Lack of sleep can leave you irritable and lethargic.

“Most people say the first couple of days of Ramadan are the hardest. For me it was the third week onwards as the days seemed to drag on.”

Positive Effect

David revealed how fasting helped to curb his smoking habit.

“Surprisingly, I didn’t crave it once. Because I knew I simply couldn’t have a cigarette, there was no urge for it.

“Ramadan brings out this amazing willpower in people which we really only ever see in that one month.

“As soon as Ramadan was over last year, I was back smoking again.

“My wife says that’s because the devil persuades me to do it.”

Muslims in Britain and most Muslim countries started fasting on Monday, June 6, on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.

In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to be closer to Allah through prayers, self-restraint and good deeds.