Wednesday marks the first day of Ramadan. And Muslims in the Tampa Bay area are observing the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar with daily fasting from dawn to sunset, along with prayer, reflection and increased communit y devotion throughout the roughly 30-day period.Tampa Bay 28 reporter Annette Gutierrez stepped inside the home of a local Islamic family to learn how they prepare for this sacred time and what it means to them.Watch full report from Annette Gutierrez Ramadan begins in Tampa Bay"We take this time to slow down in a world that is full of distraction," Shahd Alasly said.Ramadan is about connecting with your spirituality, which means dedicating time for prayer five times a day."In a world that is so full of noise, we're able to cut that noise, and we're able to just sit and ground ourselves and have a direct line, direct access to God," Alasly said.Dyma AbuOleim explained the preparation process for prayer."So you cleanse yourself and you try and dress modestly to be prepared to talk to God," AbuOleim said.During prayer, Muslims face a specific direction."So we're facing the Qibla, which is the direction of Mecca. The direction of the Kaaba, that is where all Muslims face when they are praying. So in America, it's Northeast," Alasly said.For those who need to pray while away from home, the religion offers flexibility."The beautiful part about our religion is that the whole world is a prayer space, so there's not a restriction if you have to be at home, or you have to be in a church, or a mosque, or anything like that you can go outside in the grass, you can pray anywhere at any time," AbuOleim said.Ramadan involves fasting from sunrise to sunset, but it extends beyond food and water."We're fasting from if we have a potty mouth, not cussing, if we have children that are fighting at each other's throats. They're now in this reminder of, 'I'm fasting, I'm gonna be nicer to my siblings,'" Alasly said.This time is also about being grateful."When you're fasting and you're restricting yourself from water and food, you're reminded that there's other people in this world that don't have the same things that you do and so you just appreciate everything so much more," AbuOleim said.The holiday also emphasizes connecting with community, family and friends."I think the beautiful part of when you break your fast together in community, you're reminded that we need to rely on each other, we need to take care of one another, and we need to be there for one another," AbuOleim said. For families raising children in America, creating a festive atmosphere becomes important."I want my kids to feel the environment. We live in a country where the holiday is not necessarily celebrated in schools and on TV, so I want them to feel like we also have lights and that we celebrate," Alasly said.At sunset, Muslims break their fast traditionally with dates."You've been fasting for 12+ hours, no water, no food. The last thing you want is to inundate your system with junk," Alasly said. "When the call to prayer goes off, we drink water, we have a date, we go and we pray. So now your system has slowly gotten introduced to something small." The religion accommodates those with medical needs or special circumstances."Islam is a religion of ease. And it is not meant to burden people so women that are pregnant, if the pregnancy is difficult they're not actually supposed to fast," Alasly said.Alasly emphasized the importance of interfaith understanding during this time."We have so much more in common than what we are led to believe, so I think it's really important in these really divisive times that we take an opportunity to find someone who looks nothing like us and have a conversation with them and learn something," Alasly said.For anyone who wants to learn more about the Muslim community, the organization called 200 Muslim Women Who Care has more information. They are a nonprofit that raises $20,000 each quarter to give to other organizations in the area.For those celebrating, 'Ramadan Mubarak.' ...read more read less