Many students at Occidental are currently observing Ramadan, which began Feb. 17 and ends March 19. Ramadan is a holy month celebrated annually based on the Islamic Lunar calendar.
During Ramadan, practitioners fast during daylight hours to practice piety, gratitude and empathy for the less fortunate. Individuals and student affinity groups affiliated with the Occidental Muslim community observe and accommodate those fasting for Ramadan.
According to Middle Eastern and North African Students Association (MENASA) executive board member Sara Tina Kazemi (senior), about half of MENASA’s members are Muslim, and events with food are planned with those fasting in mind.
“Finger Foods, which was co-sponsored with the South Asian Student Association and also the Latine Student Union, happened after sundown so that people who do fast are able to come to Finger Foods and actually have finger foods,” Kazemi said.
Kazemi said she is Muslim but not fasting for Ramadan, and that it is a common misconception to believe all Muslims fast for Ramadan.
“The most common [exceptions from fasting] are because someone’s a kid, sick, has some sort of disability or is pregnant,” Kazemi said. “Not a lot of people know that you don’t have to fast when you’re traveling too.”
According to Kazemi, she checks in with the people who she knows are fasting, Muslims and non-Muslims.
“There’s also a great amount of people who are just fasting [in] solidarity, even though they aren’t Muslim,” Kazemi said. “I try to engage in more prayer because I’m not fasting.”
Muslim Student Association (MSA) member Haegan Malone (junior) said it is his third year fasting at Occidental with MSA.
“Since my freshman year, we’ve been hosting iftars,” Malone said. “We get catering and funding from outside sources. Any time a student expresses interest in joining during the night, when they want to break fast, they’re more than welcome to come by for a meal and take some food back with them as well.”
Malone said MSA does on-campus fundraising, which helps pay for their iftar meals.
“You might have seen us early in the semester, selling baklava in front of the MP, trying to just raise a little money for a reserve fund,” Malone said.
MSA is inclusive of everyone, Malone said, not just practicing Muslim community members, and events are open to all students in the Occidental community.
“We welcome students of all faiths and backgrounds to come and join us to either learn about [Islam] or participate in Ramadan,” Malone said. “They’re more than welcome to come by [or] eat with us.”
Robert Drennan (junior) said he was fasting a couple days per week with Malone, his roommate.
“He’s been very open about being Muslim,” Drennan said. “I’ve never been particularly religious, but I do hold an interest in [practicing together] because they’re some of my closest friends.”
Drennan said he had never intentionally fasted before and is mainly fasting with his roommate and another friend. According to Drennan, he anticipated meeting a diverse range of people in terms of religion and culture at Occidental and in a big city like LA.
“My roommate offered for me to [celebrate Eid] with him and his family,” Drennan said.
Malone said MSA is looking into collaborating with the greater LA community, including possible events with other MSAs at USC and UCLA for Ramadan. Malone said MSA wants to engage the greater Occidental community as well.
“We’re hoping […] to see if we can host something, possibly for [Eid al-Fitr] or extra Ramadan activities, maybe a community-wide iftar or a Friday prayer,” Malone said. “We’re also trying to organize an Oxy all-student iftar night, where we host students either of the MSA or [who] are interested in MSA — a larger community event where they gather together, get to know each other and really integrate new members into the community.”
Contact Vivian Pei at vpei@oxy.edu.
