IOWA – Observing Ramadan fasting away from family, Iowa Muslim students are organizing interfaith iftars twice a week, inviting other students to break bread together and bond interfaith relations in campus.

“For me, it’s just being alone the whole day,” Abdualrahman Ismail, public relations officer for the UI Muslim Student Association, told The Daily Iowan on June 15.

“I’m usually breaking my fast alone. It’s kind of hard because the whole point of Ramadan is being with family and appreciating it with your family.”

Trying to end Muslim students feeling of loneliness, UI Muslim Student Association stepped in by sponsoring dinners every Tuesday and Thursday nights.

“The entire day people are usually by themselves studying, at class, or working,” said Mohammed Ismail, president of the UI Muslim Student Association.

“We want to invite these people for them to have some free food and socialize with their Muslim friends and share that bond they’re probably missing here on campus. It’s not always about the food, but the social aspect that Ramadan is all about.”

Ramadan is the holiest month in Islamic calendar.

In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through prayer, self-restraint and good deeds.

“The basics of it are that you can’t eat or drink from sunrise to sundown,” said Gada Al-Herz, UI junior and vice president of the UI Muslim Student Association.

“Every day from the beginning of the month to the end of month.”

Welcome

After the new initiative to host iftars, Al-Herz finds Ramadan fasting easier because of the tightly knit bond she feels with the UI Muslim community.

“I think the Muslim community in the UI is a very welcoming one,” she said.

“It’s kind of like a family.”

Abdualrahman Ismail said despite the difficulties being in Iowa City brings, he’s also found it a good time to practice the meaning of Ramadan.

“At the end of the day, the whole point of Ramadan is to bring yourself closer to God, to really focus on yourself and making yourself more patient,” he said.

“I think we’re learning a lot being by ourselves. We’re focused, [and] it’s fewer distractions, but I’m also going to say it’s harder.”

Iowa is home to the first Arab immigrants who came to the States in 1880s from Syria and Lebanon.

In 1934, the community became the first in the nation to erect a mosque, although some places used for worship had existed earlier.

The “Mother mosque”, a small wooden white building, without a minaret, a crescent on the green dome, still stands in a residential area of Cedar Rapids.

Muslims make up 1% of America’s 322 million population, according to Pew Research center.