Drake University’s third annual Ramadan Iftar Night aimed to educate and bring together the community to celebrate Ramadan.
People of all religions gathered to learn about the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and break fast together after sunset in Parents Hall March 3. Three student organizations on campus organized the event: the Muslim Student Association, the International Student Association and the Middle East Peace and Prosperity Alliance.
Shukri Abdirahman, the co-president of the Muslim Student Association, said misconceptions about Ramadan stem from a lack of knowledge about the holiday.
“A lot of Muslim kids grow up learning about … Christmas; we know about [those] holidays and stuff like that, but we want other people to know about our holiday as well,” Abdirahman said.
Members of MSA provided information on Ramadan and the tradition of fasting from sunrise to sundown during the month. As one of the five pillars of Islam, abstaining from food and drink for the day is seen as a form of humility. The meal before fasting is suhur, and the meal to break fast is iftar.
Educational opportunities included an Islamic trivia game where five volunteers from the crowd answered questions, and an Islam-centered Kahoot game open to everyone to test the knowledge they learned earlier in the night.
Guest speakers Ihsan Yaseen and Luai Amro of the AlRazi Academy spoke at Iftar Night. The academy is a private Islamic school in Des Moines that provides childcare, education and community to children and adults alike. Yaseen, the principal and director of AlRazi Academy, spoke about the school while Amro spoke on the origin and importance of Ramadan.
“This is the one worship that nobody will know if you are faithful about it, if you are really doing it right, but yourself and your creator,” Amro said. “That’s the beauty about the fasting and about Ramadan.”
Amro is the president of AlRazi Academy and the former president of the Islamic Center of Des Moines. After his guest speech, he opened the floor to questions about Islam and Ramadan. When it was time to break fast, Amro performed the adhan, the Muslim call to prayer.
Almsgiving, or donation, is another pillar of Islam. On the tables, guests could find donation links or put cash in a donation box to raise funds for humanitarian efforts in Sudan.
MSA is one of several religious organizations at Drake and is a member of the Unity Roundtable, the student-led government body of multicultural organizations.
Ramadan Iftar Night is MSA’s primary event of the school year. However, the organization plans to collaborate more with other student organizations and increase outreach to the student community.
“Having more culturally centered events at Drake is really important since we are a predominantly white school,” said Dania Larios, the president of the Middle East Peace and Prosperity Alliance. “Having that kind of exposure and awareness and that safe space for other students is really meaningful.”
