Dawn to dusk: A Ramadan with the Muslim Student Association

Fajr, 6:30 a.m.

The sun has barely breached the horizon and already biology senior Esa Mohammed’s day has begun. 

During Ramadan, Mohammed will wake at 4:30 a.m. to eat before his fast begins. Fajr, the morning prayer, is the first of the day.

“I pray the morning prayer and then recite some of the Quran, because this month is the month of the Quran,” Mohammed said. “We like to recite the book, and we have people that memorize the book cover to cover. I’m in the process of doing that.”

Afterward, Mohammed, a member of the Muslim Student Association committee, is off to a busy day ahead. Only after getting through his classes and academic commitments will Mohammed head to the Ramadan tent.

The tent, though now a staple in the student community, is only in its fourth year – it was an entirely new idea when Mohammed was a freshman.

“We used to have tarp on the floor,” Mohammed said. “One day, it was raining, and since we were outside on tarp, we had to all move. Our president at the time thought: what if we had an area where we could sit there, with a roof on top?”

A couple of months later, the tent was born. Now, during Ramadan, students can not only pray at the tent, but also break their fast there.

“When it was built for the first time and the community came and looked at it, we were all in awe because it was amazing,” Mohammed said. “They made the impossible possible.”

To Mohammed, the communal aspect of the tent is perhaps its greatest strength, with roughly 400 students visiting every day.

Ummah refers to the idea of the Muslim community, a microcosm of which is encapsulated in the MSA tent. 

“When it comes to Ramadan, obviously more than just the fasting, you want to do things that are beneficial for the community,” Mohammed said. “There’s not many opportunities on campus for Muslims. In the past, you just go to the dining hall and then break your fast there and that’s it. One of the greatest things that MSA has done is making sure that everyone feels like they belong.”

Dhuhr, 12:45 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.

Finance junior Sikandar Khan’s first brush with MSA was in his freshman year. 

Friendless and club-less, Khan decided to look into MSA and took a friend with him to attend an MSA social at Lynn Eusan Park.

“We loved it,” Khan said. “We made so many new friends, so many other freshmen who were there. Ever since that day, we have been going there every single time.”

Eventually, Khan transitioned into his current role as a social officer, where he organizes events like ice skating socials, trips downtown to POST and excursions at the beach.

Any student, regardless of their religious affiliation, can attend an MSA social, where Khan tries to replicate the welcoming atmosphere he remembers experiencing.

“One of the reasons why MSA really clicked for me is because when I went there, I didn’t have to put myself out there,” Khan said. “People came to me. They said hi to me. They engaged with me. That’s how I got comfortable talking there, sharing my feelings there, and having friends there.”

The MSA tent is also open to all students. Khan himself often brings his non-Muslim friends with him whenever he visits.

“Every time I go there, three of my friends come with me from my classes,” Khan said. “If you go to the tent every day of the week, you’ll see so many non-Muslims there, too. Being Muslim is only a spiritual thing, so there’s no one stopping anyone from going into the tent.”

Khan, too, will be at the tent come evening, but for now, it’s only just after noon: time for Dhuhr.

Asr, 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m.

The first prayer hosted at the tent is Asr. Inside, every piece of decor has been thoughtfully chosen.

“I had a whole Pinterest board,” said biology sophomore Amira Khattab, who led the MSA decor team last year. “I have a vision for this space. This year, I’m not on the core team, and from my perspective, when you’re in it and planning everything, you don’t really see the beauty of it until you step out.”

Khattab, now the sister socials coordinator, said she’s now more able to appreciate how beautiful the tent is: there are drapes and a whole wall of curtain lights and Persian carpets on the ground.

But setting up and maintaining the tent is no easy feat: behind the scenes is a staggering amount of fundraising and coordination.

“Everything that MSA does starts out in a little room of all of the officers sitting on the floor in a circle, like ‘okay guys, how are we going to get this done?’” Khattab said. “There are obviously really tangible things that we can do: let’s get sponsorships, let’s get grants, let’s reach out to people who’ve donated in the past, let’s table at mosques or other places. There’s also a certain amount of faith and trust that you have in God and also in your own abilities.”

It costs roughly $60,000 to operate the tent each Ramadan, a large portion of which goes to the nightly iftar – catered food for students to break their fasts – but also includes structural and travel costs.

Last year, Khattab remembers that MSA had raised $63,000 out of their $80,000 goal, with only twenty hours left in the fundraising period. Against all odds, they raised $17,000 in the span of less than a day.

“It surprised me how mobile the community was, even the non-MSA community,” Khattab said. “It’s like okay, instead of buying your five-dollar matcha, do you want to just chip in five dollars for the tent? You don’t have to force anyone to do anything – people just want to do it because they want to see other people benefiting.”

Khattab remembers how on that day, all the officers were spamming the committee group chat, reminding members to reach out to their family, their friends, to anyone who would possibly be willing to contribute.

Whether she is organizing a social or collaborating with the officer team, Khattab says, for her, everything goes back to Allah.

“Everything that we do is anchored in God,” Khattab said. “We see giving back to the community and putting our effort into the community as an act of worship. That’s why we’re so fervent in our actions.”

Fundraising continues until the last meal is given out. Khattab estimates that MSA has reached about three-quarters of its fundraising goal, with about $12,000 left to go.

When MSA is at its busiest, Khattab admits that her academic commitments can sometimes be pushed to the side.

“But as long as you’re accomplishing the main goal of building a sisterhood, then everything was worth it,” Khattab said. “Sometimes, the moment before a social, I’m like ‘I’m never doing this again.’ And then as the social ends and everyone’s hugging each other and so happy, I’m like ‘I’m so glad I want to do this for the rest of my life.’”

Only a couple of hours remain until night falls and Khattab gets to enjoy the final product she helped create: the glowing tent, wreathed in lights, against the darkness.

Maghrib, sunset

As it comes to time to break the fast, the tent is bustling with life. 

“After fasting the entire day, you’re thirsty, you’re hungry,and you’re a bit down,” Khan said. “You’re walking around so much, you’re hungry and you’re learning, then you walk into the tent and you see 200 or 300 of your friends.”

For Khan, entering the tent brings a sense of relief and happiness.

Old acquaintances greet each other. Chatter fills the air. The community breathes as one.

“Then the call to prayer signals the end of your fast,” Khattab said. “Everyone goes silent, and you have that first sip of water, and you eat the date, and it’s like the best thing that you’ve ever had in your life. And then a few minutes later, you actually get up and pray.”

Standing foot to foot, shoulder to shoulder, there are no freshmen and seniors, only people together in prayer.

Mohammed has finished classes for the day and helped prepare the iftar. Khan is done tabling. Khattab has made sure that new faces in the tent have been properly greeted and touches her head to the ground.

“It’s really grounding, because you kind of don’t focus on yourself for a moment,” Khattab said. “You’re focusing on God. You’re suddenly not the center of the universe anymore.”

It’s quiet until the prayer ends – for Mohammed, this is when the community is at its peak.

“It’s just a different vibe that is unexplainable,” Mohammed said. “It’s just the feeling in the air is different. You can’t explain it. It’s just very peaceful, very solemn.”

People greet those sitting next to and across from them, and the meal begins.

Isha, 8 p.m.

The night prayer, Isha, is made after eating.

For biology sophomore Zeyad Ibrahim, who serves as a logistics coordinator, there is a sense of success in coming full circle from being a freshman in MSA to now contributing to the organization.

“Whenever you see the results, whenever you see all these people gathered together and smiling and laughing, it gives you the sense of accomplishment,” Ibrahim said. “We need to keep going, we can keep going because it’s actually working. It’s not for nothing.”

In his capacity as an MSA officer, Ibrahim said he’s learned skills ranging from how to use Google Drive efficiently to good leadership.

But it’s conviction, ultimately, that Ibrahim sees as the driving force behind MSA’s success.

“Whenever you have these officers all on board with this common united goal, it’s amazing the things you can accomplish,” Ibrahim said. “I would say it’s really the embodiment of faith in action.”

And so both the frenzy of planning during the day and the calm of prayer at night are deeply worth it to Ibrahim.

He said he sees himself continuing in MSA, not just out of religious devotion, but also to expand on opportunities like internship panels, educational events and volunteering opportunities for the community.

“It’s something that you can’t just let go of in two seconds, right?” Ibrahim said. “Because you spend all this time building something in countless hours and weeks and months. It’s hard to just disappear. You can’t, really.”

Taraweeh, 8:30 p.m.

Taraweeh is a special prayer that only takes place during Ramadan. One section of the Quran is read every day throughout the month.

It is, for many, a reminder of what Islam means.

“You can be born Muslim, and I was born Muslim, but there’s a certain point in your life where you have to rediscover Islam again,” Khattab said. “I actually put on my hijab only at my high school graduation, and it’s just so different. Islam is a complete way of life.”

Fasting during Ramadan, for instance, is for Khattab a lesson in awareness.

“I don’t have a meal for 12 hours, but some people might not have meals for days,” Khattab said. “So nobody’s going to know if I eat anything, but you know that God knows.”

Prayer teaches humility. The existence of a God teaches gratitude and clarity. For Khattab, the lessons are endless.

For Khan, it is the structure of Islam that has made the biggest impact.

“There are five times a day you have to pray, wash your hands, wash your face,” Khan said. “You don’t think of anything, your mind is completely at ease, and you’re just very calm. It gives you five pauses in your day to relax, no matter what you’re doing.”

And of course, at least during Ramadan, all of these routines are centered at the tent.

“I think it’s beautiful, honestly, the way the tent is just a place, like a pillar, a bunch of light,” Ibrahim said. “Anyone who wants to come can come.”

news@thedailycougar.com