Eight students huddle in a kitchen in Senior Fauver at three in the morning all munching on various sorts of foods. For some Muslim students, this is Ramadan at Wesleyan.
Ramadan, or Ramazan, takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. People observing this ritual can only eat and drink before sunrise and after sundown, and the post-sundown meals are usually celebratory feasts. Muslims fast for many reasons, including to cleanse the inner soul, to practice self-discipline, and to appreciate things people normally take for granted.
On one night during Ramadan this year, Hira Jafri ’13 and several other students attended a break-fast dinner at a friend’s house in Middletown, where 100 people from Wesleyan, Middletown, and as far as Boston all gathered to break the fast together and perform the nightly prayer. Approximately 35 students are practicing the fast this year at the University, and many support each other through the Muslim Students Association to make the process easier.
“One of the most helpful things was the older practicing students who had already gone through this and gave us tips about how to make the whole process run smoother,” Jafri said.
Eating only before dawn and in the middle of the night is difficult enough, but managing it with a roommate and when campus dining halls are closed takes some serious self-discipline and creativity.
“During orientation, late night dining was closed, and sometimes the dining hall closed at seven due to activities,” Jafri said. “That meant we had nothing to eat as we had to partake in the activities as well.”
Bon Appétit, however, agreed to let the students pay for their meals and fill a container with food from Usdan to eat later that night and the next morning. Aside from the physical difficulty of fasting, freshmen find that fasting is much more difficult when they are doing it alone without the support and companionship of their families.
“When I’m at home my whole family is eating our meals at the same time which is much more fun,” said Zainab Khan ’13. “Also we eat proper food that provides proper nutrition, unlike here where we end up eating Ramen noodles or cereal.”
Although cereal and Ramen may sound like perfectly appropriate meals for a college student, fasting students find them inadequate for their only meal of the day.
Despite the difficulties of completing the Ramadan rituals on a college campus, practicing students persist and find the process spiritually rewarding. The fast is only secondary to the meditation and spiritual cleansing of Ramadan.
“You can’t even be thinking about food, then the whole point is lost,” said Swat Kilic ’13. “I feel much calmer during Ramadan.”
Leave a Reply