By Daniel Deza
When asked about Ramadan, some students at Northeastern did not know the true meaning of the holiday, which can make it a very lonely one for many Muslim students.
Northeastern, however, offers daily services in the sacred space to nearby college students who can come together to feel the sense of community they left behind back at home.
“There aren’t as many Muslims at our school so you can feel lonely when no one knows what Ramadan is,” said Dalia Fares, a sophomore at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services. “You don’t have your family here to wake you at four in the morning to eat.”
During Ramadan, the Spiritual Life Center has promoted Ramadan services and many other religious events and have also worked close with the International Students and Scholars Institute (ISSI) and the Islamic Society by providing a room for the daily prayers.
For Muslims, Ramadan is the most holy month of the year. For 30 days, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset followed by an Iftar.
Iftar is the evening meal for breaking the daily fast; traditionally a date is the first thing to be consumed. Iftar during Ramadan is meant to bond family and friends and build a stronger community within the Islamic religion.
The general misconception of Ramadan is that it is the month where Muslims starve themselves for 30 days straight, said Nadia Alshamarri, a freshman biochemistry major
She and freshman international affairs major Saja Kamal are friends from Saudi Arabia who are spending their first Ramadan in the United States and away from their family and friends. While certain freshmen start feeling homesick in the month of September, Alshamaarri and Kamal are learning to transition into a new culture as well as trying to balance an early class schedule that can conflict with their daily fasting cycle.
The Islamic month of Ramadan is celebrated and associated into everyday life in Saudi Arabia, from the ornate decorations around the cities to the routine reminders of when prayers should be said for that specific day.
“Many people think we don’t eat for 30 days straight but we actually do eat, we eat in the morning before the sun comes out and later in the evening,” Alshammari said. “Many people don’t know what fasting really stands for, and how it is an act of deep personal worship in where Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to good. It is meant to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm.”
Alshammari said living in residence halls and practicing Ramadan can be very inconvenient.
During the fasting hours the dining hall becomes Alshammari’s and Kamal’s worst enemy, making it a forbidden fruit throughout the day.
“My mom would have decorations all over the house and put a huge tent in our front lawn, with lots of food so that all our neighbors, family members and friends can break fast together,” Kamal said. “We would watch Ramadan shows together. It truly is a special time of the year and a really good bonding experience for all Islamic people.”
The Islamic Society at Northeastern, with organizations like (ISSI), offer resources on campus for Muslim students who look for a place to go for Iftar.
“The number of students who use the sacred space for prayer has tripled this month,” said Diane Moncada, assistant at the Spiritual Life Center.
Mouaad Lebeche, president of the Islamic Society, helps organize the daily Iftar. The donations of food from Northeastern students for each Iftar, along with help from ISSI, who provide the Islamic society with a room, makes the daily Iftar possible for the Northeastern community.
As Muslim students from Northeastern and other colleges in Boston meet in Ell Hall a sense of community is fostered as students meet to celebrate.
“Spiritual Life at Northeastern has been a great help and we take it for granted sometimes, but when you see the other schools in the area that don’t have any resources, you realize how Northeastern really does makes it easier,” Lebeche said.
