By Serin Sarsour
Brooklyn College held its first-ever CUNY-wide Iftar dinner on Monday, Apr. 11, inviting Muslim and non-Muslim students to the celebration. The event was hosted by the school’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG), the Islamic Society (ISO), Muslim Women’s Educational Initiative (MWEI), and Muslims Giving Back (MGB).
“In the spirit of Ramadan, being able to celebrate and break bread with a community of peers and not just Muslims was invigorating and beautiful. It reminded me of the power of the diversity [the] Brooklyn College campus holds and how important it is to make sure each community is heard and supported,” said Iqura Naheed, USG’s president, while expressing one of her favorite parts about the dinner.
Muslims worldwide are currently observing Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar in which they fast from dawn to sundown every day. Not only are they refraining from consuming any foods or liquids, but they are also praying five times a day, reading the Quran (the holy book for Muslims), while doing good deeds and all sorts of acts to strengthen their relationships with God. However, those who are very young or elderly, sick, pregnant, menstruating, or under other circumstances are excused from fasting. Muslims also fast during Ramadan to empathize with the less fortunate.
“It’s a month where Muslims are especially focused on spirituality and like self-restraint, self-discipline, and control so that we can grow as people,” said BC senior Mahnoor Bibi. “Ramadan gives me a feeling of inner peace.”
Naheed kicked off the in-person event alongside BC President Michelle Anderson as they welcomed the Muslim CUNY students and others into the Student Center’s Gold Room.
The president of ISO, Bilal Khan, also spoke about the spirit of Ramadan, explaining that Ramadan originates from and commemorates when the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
“The iftar dinner was hosted to highlight the diversity at Brooklyn College and to showcase the Muslim community on campus and their traditions,” Khan said, emphasizing that Ramadan is a time in which the community comes together.
Ahmed Aziz, a Muslim BC student, then recited a prayer, which served as a signal that it was time for the guests to break their fasts and indulge in the iftar dinner. Aziz is a Hafiz, a Muslim who knows the entire Quran by heart.
When Muslims break their fasts, the dinner they eat at sundown is called iftar. Before eating, the majority of Muslim students gathered and prayed the Maghrib prayer together, which is the fourth out of the five prayers that Muslims are supposed to pray every day when the sun sets. The prayer was led by Hafiz Arslan Iqbal, another Muslim student at BC.
“My favorite part about Ramadan is how close I feel to God and basically how I get to spend time with my family and my friends, which is why I thought today’s event was really amazing,” said another BC senior named Aima Umar. “We got to pray, we got to eat good food, and spent time with our friends. It was just fun.”
This year, Ramadan started on Apr. 2, and will most likely end on May 1 since Ramadan typically lasts 29 to 30 days depending on the moon, which notifies when it is the end of the ninth lunar month of the Islamic calendar. The day after Ramadan ends, Muslims celebrate a holiday called Eid al-Fitr, where they pray together, open gifts, and eat special feasts.
Although Ramadan is a wonderful time of the year for Muslims, it also comes with its challenges, especially with the presence of school. “It’s difficult because during my class I have to break my fast and pray so I can do it on time, so I usually just have to leave,” Umar said.
USG, ISO, MWEI, and MGB also faced challenges while organizing the event and ensuring that halal food options would be available to the Muslim students. “At the start of planning this event, we had no halal vendor,” Naheed said.
Nonetheless, USG and the Muslim clubs pulled everything off after a few late nights and weeks of planning. “We found out about Mangia Cafe, who is a newer vendor in the cafeteria [and] who are [the] wonderful vendors that catered the main dishes for the night. Further, we had a lot of students volunteer their connections with halal restaurants to secure a larger variety of food for the campus,” Naheed continued.
Almost 200 people filled up the seats at the event even though only about 160 students RSVP’d. “The turnout exceeded our expectations,” said Khan from ISO. “[…] We have a rule at our club — nobody leaves with an empty mind or stomach. In the future, we hope to plan for more guests and make the event bigger than before.”