Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, noticed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and group, is being preserved and celebrated at DePauw from Friday, April 1 to Sunday, Might 1. In accordance with Sami Aziz, the director of the middle for religious life, fasting is the coaching of the physique, soul, coronary heart, and thoughts for 30 days.
“You might be coaching and disciplining your self principally to detox from greed, selfishness, poisonous issues on the planet. People have a tendency to alter the surroundings negatively, and Ramadan reconnects you with nature, realigning your spirit with the common order, and with the creator of the universe,” Aziz mentioned.
Vice President of the Muslim Pupil Affiliation Aneesa Ahmed shared her expertise fasting for the primary time as a full-time faculty pupil after one 12 months of distant research. “It was tougher in a way that again residence, Ramadan is an enormous factor, you celebrated it with your loved ones, and also you ate hometown meals. It was exhausting as a result of I used to be fasting for the primary time as a full-time faculty pupil, however I’m now getting extra balanced with it,” Ahmed mentioned. She additionally added that as she lives in a sorority, as a substitute of getting meals all collectively together with her housemates as ordinary, she needed to put together her meals and eat inside her room.
Having fasted for 2 years at DePauw, junior Hamayl Afzal observed the religious variations between fasting at DePauw and in her hometown. “For residence, fasting is tradition, I might say, and also you simply do it as a result of everybody was doing it. Over right here, it’s extra of you need to, as a result of it’s your faith, and also you do it since you are very devoted to it. Additionally, you don’t have many individuals round you if you quick, so it’s all about your dedication and willpower,” Afzal mentioned.
Treasurer of the Muslim Pupil Affiliation Mimi Ukpong additionally mentioned, “If you quick at residence, you quick with lots of people, a unique group vibe. This 12 months, it’s actually enjoyable to quick with my buddies and have the ability to have dinner with them at Hoover and have a while that’s put aside for us,” Ukpong mentioned.
For Aziz, this 12 months has been the perfect 12 months of Ramadan since he got here to DePauw and have become the director of the Heart for Religious Life, as he believes the Muslim group post-pandemic has come along with lots of involvement.
“I’ve to present credit to the MSA, Abdullah, Aneesa, Mimi, Bisma, Rifatul, and Mahnoor, who meet weekly to plan for these occasions. I need to shout out to the President, Alan Hill, JC Lopez, and Maureen Carkeek, they’ve helped tremendously Muslim life on campus. Once I acquired right here, Religious Life was a room, now we have now this complete home. I’m honored to have this place,” Aziz mentioned.
When requested how the college has been supporting the Muslim group, Ukpong mentioned, “I respect them as a result of we had some important issues at the beginning of our Ramadan, us not having sufficient good high quality meals. However once we talked to them, they had been very responsive and receptive, they modified the menu to greatest accommodate us,” Ukpong mentioned. About what DePauw can do extra, she thinks some extra recognition will likely be nice.
Sophomore Zaheen Rashed additionally added, “I believe in comparison with lots of faculties, DePauw is doing a terrific job however on the identical time I believe they will do significantly better and I imagine they’ve the funds to do higher however they aren’t certain easy methods to allocate it,” Rashed mentioned.
Believing in “much less is extra,” or the minimalism motion, Aziz inspired the Muslim group to proceed preserving the Ramadan custom. By doing so, Muslim non secular beliefs state that every one of us are defending, creating much less hurt, and taking much less from the earth. He additionally shared a video with college students about the advantages of fasting. Ukpong suggested incoming Muslim college students to “open their coronary heart and thoughts and be prepared for brand new experiences.”
