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Youngin Chung | Phoenix Staff

Muslim members of the community and others attend the Eid al-Fitr dinner to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

BY ASHIA TROIANO

In print | October 9, 2008

Traditionally, Ramadan is a time for Muslims to connect with their families in the context of religious traditions, but for Muslim college students, who are sometimes thousands of miles away from home, that is not always feasible. However, some colleges and universities — Swarthmore included — have tried to accommodate the needs of its Muslim students during this traditional month of fasting.

Observance of Ramadan, which took place between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30 this year, is one of the five pillars of Islam that is essential to the religion. Occurring in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar year, it requires that each Muslim fast from sunrise to sunset daily and partake in a series of prayers.

On campus, Bond Hall has served as a prayer space, and for the past two years, Sharples has provided bagged meals for Muslim students to eat when they break their fast each night after sunset. “Swarthmore has been very accommodating during Ramadan. They are currently working on getting halal meat on campus,” Ailya Vajid ’09, a member of the Muslim Student Association, said in an e-mail. Halal foods are those that are permissible under Islamic law, which dictates the manner in which livestock can be slaughtered.

At this point in the academic year, Sharples often closes before sunset, creating a dilemma for Muslim students. “Sharples closes at 7:15, and this [time of] year, the sun sets at 7:30. We didn’t ask to extend the hours because it would be pointless just for a month for a small group of students,” MSA member Nabta Idries ’10 said.

Essie Mae’s, which is open later than Sharples, is the only other option for students. “I’m always open-minded to make sure our students get what they need – if I can manage with space, of course. But I think for a snack bar, we do very well,” said Augustine Ruhri, director of Essie Mae’s and the Kohlberg and Science Center coffee bars.

Besides these significant accommodations, there is not much else that Swarthmore as an institution could do. According to Idries, “Ramadan is a time of reflecting, being very disciplined, having self-control, reading the Quran, and getting as close to God as possible. Those are things the school can’t help with.”

Ruhullah Khapalwak ’10 described Ramadan as a time for enhancing his relationship with the divine. “Most importantly, Ramadan for me is the way of pleasing Allah and showing our devotion to him,” Khapalwak said. “It is a month during which we, as a Muslim community, share with and remember those in need.”

Idries noted that her Ramadan experience on campus, while challenging, was very beneficial to her in a number of ways. “When I was at home, I wasn’t really doing what I was supposed to be doing during Ramadan … But in college where you have so much more control over what you’re doing, I started to focus so much more on my academics. I learned how to put my priorities in order. I considered Ramadan a time where I can test myself. If I can fast for this many days, maybe I can study longer every day and get a much better grade … Things that seem really hard … can get done.”

In fact, Idries used that time to really push her own academic limits. “When I got really hungry, I would actually do the most challenging thing, which was Orgo. Literally at the peak hour of hunger, I would do chemistry,” Idries said. “It took my mind off of the hunger, and it was some of my best studying time. I even did flashcards — I never did flashcards before in my life,” she said.

At the end of Ramadan, the MSA hosts an Eid dinner serving Middle Eastern and Afghani food to celebrate the completion of the fast, which is open to all of campus. But the festivities that come along with the Eid dinner — and even the breaking of the fast every night — can be bittersweet for Muslim students. “It’s definitely different to be practicing alone, or at least without family. During Ramadan there’s no one to wake me up and prepare food, and there’s no family to break fast with every night; however, this year I’ve been very lucky to have friends who came all the way over to my apartment at 4:30 am to make omelets and eat pizza with me,” Vajid said.

But the struggles of being in the minority can extend further. “Personally, it has always been difficult to fast at Swat or generally in a country where it is not practiced. … [I]n Afghanistan, the working day ends at 1:30PM instead of the normal 4:30 or 5:00PM. In some countries people often sleep during the day and work during the night. I do not expect to miss classes or work, but afternoon classes are very difficult, because you are tired and thirsty, and it is difficult to concentrate,” Khapalwak said. “Also it is quite sad to have to go to classes on the first day of Eid, which is a big religious festival for us – the entire Muslim world is celebrating.”

MSA serves as a support network for its members, and this was evident during Ramadan. “For me, the most important part of Ramadan is the community it builds. Some friends and I woke up almost every day before sunrise and ate meals together, and it was really great to do that in solidarity with each other. Iftars [fast-breaking] was all the better because I got to do it with friends who were equally as hungry!” Urooj Khan ’10 said.

Not at all surprisingly, each student goes to college with a different background and set of experiences – religious as well as secular – that serves him or her in a variety of ways. “In Northern Sudan, the culture is synonymous with being Muslim. Our traditions are centered on God. So religion is extremely important in my family; my mom taught us how to actually do the prayers because they’re very physical, and she encouraged us to fast for Ramadan,” Idries said.

But not everyone shares Idries’s background. “My parents made religion something that was individual – between ourselves and God. They also didn’t make it something that was imposed on us, so each member of my family practices differently – not the essentials but their observances and engaging in ritualized forms of it. I like that, though, because it allowed me to really form my own relationship with God and really be forced to think about it, rather than to go through the motions I’d grown up doing,” Vajid said in an e-mail.

College also presents a unique complexity for Muslim students accustomed to a different lifestyle. “Swat really challenged me religiously because it is so much more liberal here. There are so many things that I could do that would not be in line with my religion,” Idries said.

Vajid found ways to weave her religion into her Swarthmore experience. “Prayer became tougher at first just because of the schedule and the time I spent in the library, but over time, I found ways to make religion a very integrated part of my Swarthmore life, and for the most part, it’s no longer difficult but just daily life,” Vajid said.

For Idries at least, being on her own in college has enabled her to define religion for herself and enhance her sense of spirituality. “When I didn’t have that group around me telling me, ‘You need to pray, you need to pray,’ I had to understand what it means for me personally, why I was Muslim, what I thought about other religions. I had to explore my spirituality on my own. That was a very good thing.”

Additionally, both Idries and Vajid, who are minors in Islamic Studies, cite professors as very instrumental in their Swarthmore careers. “I have the spirituality, but the professors have given me different ways of thinking about the religion — critical and scholarly ways to think about it,” Idries said.

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