As the holy month of Ramadan started this week, Muslim students at the University of Southern California (USC) joined communities observing Ramadan around the world, balancing work, study, and school while fasting.
“[With] zero consumption until sunset, it is very challenging to study, and the long days under the Los Angeles sun exaggerate the feelings of hunger and thirst,” Hafeez Mir, the sophomore representative of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) who is majoring in accounting, told the Daily Trojan.
Like Mir, many students consider Ramadan as a time when one is taught to overcome hardships.
📚 Read Also: Fasting; A Hardship to Relieve All Hardships
“Beyond abstinence from eating and drinking, Ramadan entails prayers and reflection to achieve greater taqwa [consciousness of God]. It is working even harder than any other time on prayers and bettering ourselves,” Mir said.
“In other words, a spiritual and emotional cleansing.”
Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. It started on Saturday, April 2 in most countries around the world, with only a few countries starting the fasting month on Sunday.
From dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from food, drinking liquids, smoking, and engaging in sexual relations).
📚 Read Also: Ramadan – Feed Your Body and Soul
Special Ramadan for Students
During the holy month, the MSU will hold several initiatives to give Muslim students a sense of community, such as offering dates and water at maghrib time and hosting community iftars.
The MSU will also create Suhoor to-go boxes, which can be picked up every evening and stored for consumption during Suhoor.
Talha Rafique, a sophomore majoring in computer science who serves as MSU’s community director, said he hopes these initiatives will help alleviate some of the stress and anxiety Muslim students might face.
“Students will be able to partake in Taraweeh on campus, which is a safe place to do it, as well as have fellow students to lead it who will also be time-conscious of their time,” Rafique said.
Zain Saquib, a freshman majoring in economics and an international student from Pakistan, is excited to spend Ramadan with peers for the first time.
“It will be a change spending my first Ramadan away from home and not being able to have home-cooked food,” Saquib said.
“However, the Muslim community is great at USC, and I am looking forward to enjoying Ramadan with them and being able to experience many of the things I did at home like Taraweeh and iftars.”