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Heat Wave Tests Muslims During Ramadan, NPR Reports

Muslims break the Ramadan fast at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India,

As a heat wave grips large parts of the country, ask yourself this: Would you turn down a glass of water? If you’re Muslim, you probably would, because it is the month of Ramadan, when Muslims can’t eat or drink from sunup to sundown.

For Johari Abdul Malik, it’s not water that he craves. It’s his daily soy green-tea latte with a shot of espresso. And Malik, a Virginia cleric, says it’s not just Muslims who feel the effects of fasting. He recalls running into a barista from the Starbucks near his mosque at this time last year.

“And the guy said to me, ‘Where are all of the people?!” And I told him, ‘Oh, nobody told you. It’s Ramadan.’ I said ‘Don’t worry. You will see all of them tonight at precisely 8:24.'”

And they arrived, the minute the sun went down.

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