Learning Across Faiths: Our Lower School Students Explore Ramadan

If you’ve ever watched Coach Rahim Muhammad (Coach R.) lead a PE class, run a game-day warmup, or simply greet students in the hallway with his signature energy, you already know he has a gift for making everyone around him feel seen. So, when our beloved Director of Athletics and PE Teacher led a conversation with our Kindergarten through 4th Grade students about Ramadan, the room was immediately alive with curiosity, questions, and genuine connection. He shared his personal Ramadan experiences and highlighted the values many faiths share in common. His willingness to open up about his faith made the conversation all the more meaningful. 

To help frame the conversation, our Chaplain, Stefanie Wilson, offered some meaningful context on how this year, Ramadan observance coincides with the Christian season of Lent. “As a chaplain, I find it deeply meaningful that Lent and Ramadan overlap this year, reminding us of the sacred connections we share across faiths. This shared holy season invites us all to reflect, support one another, and celebrate our shared commitment to spiritual growth.” The overlap occurs only about every 30 to 33 years since Islam follows a lunar calendar. While the two seasons serve different purposes, both emphasize strengthening one’s relationship with God through prayer, reflection, charity, and fasting.

The conversation quickly became a masterclass in empathy as Coach Rahim described what observing Ramadan looks like in his daily life and for his family, drawing connections to values students recognize in their own lives and showing that many faith traditions share the same guiding principles. Introducing students to the five pillars of Islam, he drew a thoughtful connection to the five pillars of our School’s Character Covenant: Respect, Responsibility, Empathy, Honesty, and Fairness, the values our students practice every day. 

He gave students a glimpse into a typical day during Ramadan: waking before dawn for a simple meal, fasting from sunrise to sunset, and taking in the quiet early morning hours as a moment for reflection before the day begins. He also shared memories from his own childhood, recalling the joy of waking up to the smell of his mother’s cooking and the sound of his father calling the family to prayer. He remembered trying shorter fasts as a young boy, not because he had to, but because he wanted to begin understanding the tradition in his own way. It was the kind of storytelling that reminds you how much our personal histories shape who we become.

One of the most powerful moments came when Coach R. talked about charity and broadened what that word can mean. It isn’t just a grand gesture, he explained. It’s a smile in the hallway on a hard morning. He mentioned that a simple hello from our Lower School Principal, Dr. Kelly, had once been enough to turn his whole day around. For him, Ramadan is a time to pray for forgiveness and strive to live among the righteous and those principles, he said, are what guide how he tries to show up every day, for his family and for the students of St. Matthew’s. “As an educator, I’ve always found it important to seek out the ties that bind us and strengthen those connections. That’s the beauty of humanity,” he shared. 

Our students asked thoughtful questions throughout the discussion, which perfectly demonstrated how St. Matthew’s, grounded in its Episcopal tradition, encourages curiosity, understanding, and respect for all faiths and cultures, supporting the School’s mission to think critically, develop strong character, and lead with courage.

By sharing his experiences and inviting students into the conversation, Coach R. helped create a moment of connection and curiosity, encouraging students to see how different traditions can reflect many of the same values they learn and practice in their own community.

Interested in learning more about how St. Matthew’s creates transformative experiences for students? Contact us to schedule a tour and discover what makes our community so special.