MUSLIMS END RAMADAN FASTING\Faithful pray in CSUN tents.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

For 29 days, the Islamic faithful have fasted to become better Muslims.

Early Tuesday, in tents erected on the rain-drenched Cal State Northridge campus, thousands celebrated in communal prayer the end of the fasting period, known as Ramadan.

Bowing on prayer rugs directed toward Mecca, men and women chanted and prayed. Those in traditional clothing voiced praise to Allah next to those in blue jeans.

"This month of fasting helps revive your faith," said Husnain Mehdi, a 17-year-old student at Granada Hills High School. "The desires within us are held down, and we train for the rest of the year to be good Muslims."

During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic Lunar calendar, Muslims abstain from food, water and sex from dawn until sunset. They use the time for frequent prayer, reading the Koran, and reflection.

Tuesday's prayers mark the beginning of the three-day Eid ul-Fitr, or "feast breaking" holiday, where Muslims exchange social visits and seek to strengthen brotherhood in the community, said Salam Al-Marayati, a spokesman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.

Al-Marayati said Ramadan is the time when the Koran was given to Mohammed by the angel Gabriel.

"That is the miracle of Islam," he said.

His group estimates that there are about 500,000 Muslims in Southern California.

There are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims throughout the world, and about 6 million live in the United States, according to a release from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.

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(1) Muslim women Tuesday mark the conclusion of a month of fasting during Ramadan under tents erected on the CSUN campus. (2) Haitham Alnasseri, a Northridge Muslim, joins in prayer during the communal celebration at CSUN to observe Ramadan's end. Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News