American Ramadan is a bold and exciting new look at the American Muslim experience, produced and masterfully captured by first-time director Naeem Randhawa. The one-hour documentary explores and reveals the holiest of rituals, shared by the Abrahamic traditions, but practiced by more — the act of fasting for faith.

As diverse as the fabric of America, from the divorced Dad; the student coping with school, work and family life; the convert to Islam and his Indonesian wife; another interracial couple; and the wife of an incarcerated businessman; American Ramadan depicts the reality of Muslim life.

Filmed on location in Dallas and Los Angeles, American Ramadan follows the lives of five American Muslim families during the Month of Ramadan in 2005. In contrast to the media stereotypes of Muslims as sheltered and outcast, the film illustrates the everyday struggles, fears, hopes and challenges that we all, Muslim or not, face daily. From the busy lives of the families, the film follows the individuals as they strive to maintain their rhythm, and find time for worship and faith through the act of fasting and prayer.

The intimate and personal stories of the five families are complemented with scholars from the three Abrahamic faiths. Rabbi Robert Haas from Temple Shalom; Dr. Robert Hunt, a Christian doctor and director of Global Theological Education at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology; Dr. Jamal Badawi, who is the founder of the Islamic Information Foundation and a professor emeritus at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Dr. Muzzammil Siddiqi, chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America and director of the Islamic Society of Orange County; and Dr. Mahmood Khan, an internal medicine physician who has studied the medical process and benefits of fasting. All of these scholars bring to light the common thread of fasting and spiritual yearning between Jews, Muslims, Christians, and other faiths.

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For more information, visit the film’s official website.