BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Our Belief and Practice segment today is on how two young American Muslims observe Ramadan, the month-long time of fasting and prayer from sunrise to sunset. Zuleqa and Khizer Husain of northern Virginia told us about both their daytime practices, which can include an hour or more of reading the Qur'an, and their evening meal, which can become a party.

ZULEQA HUSAIN: The obvious difference between Ramadan and the other months is that your whole schedule is changed. You're eating twice a day, at odd times of the day. The first is the early morning breakfast.

KHIZER HUSAIN: Muslims are not ascetics. They don't prescribe monasteries. You're supposed to engage in worldly life as well as the spiritual life. During the month of Ramadan, in addition to prayer you have fasting, so it comes back to having a better focus on what's really important in life.

Ms. HUSAIN: Ramadan is, for me, like a spiritual tune-up. The whole year I pray five times a day, but not thinking very consciously about it. Fasting, for me, is a constant prayer that you're engaged in throughout the day. For 12 hours or more, you're praying. The 10 minutes that you do, for example, in the morning, is now extended to a continuous prayer called "the fast."

(Praying): There is no God except Allah, and this is the truth.

Living in America, you will not probably hear a call to prayer from a mosque nearby. When I'm at work, the easiest way is to look it up online. There are some good Web sites, which you put in your zip code and it will tell you these are the times for your prayer.