Students celebrate holy days
Maria Fedorova
Issue date: 9/25/06 Section: News
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This is how Muslim people congratulate each other during the holy month of Ramadan.
Fasting is one of the many traditions of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar.
This is the time when Muslim believers said people should devote themselves to reading the Quran, praying, fasting and doing charity work.
Shayma Qahwaji, a first-year student from Saudi Arabia, joined many other Muslim students at SCSU and all over the world in a month of daily fasts.
"You have to do all the good things, and forgive everybody," Qahwaji said.
Mohammed Al-Qallaf, a junior also from Saudi Arabia, said one can sympathize with poor people while fasting and feel how hungry they are.
"The rich and the poor are the same, equal while being fasting. This is one of the purposes of Ramadan," Husain Hasan, a senior from Bahrain, said.
Muslims' fast start at sunrise. Qahwaji notes that no food or drinks can be consumed, although there are some exceptions, such as when a person is ill.
People break the fasting during sunset.
Al-Qallaf said it was difficult to fast in the United States when he first arrived, but now he got used to Ramadan in the United States.
Ramadan is a time to think about the family and spend more time with relatives.
"Back home, in Saudi Arabia, we would have a lot of visitors during Ramadan," Qahwaji said.
Here, she has only her brother and a few friends. It will be the first time for them to celebrate Ramadan without their parents and siblings.
She does not have a lot of Muslim friends to visit, Qahwaji said.
Al-Qallaf also mentioned that in the United States he breaks the fast just by himself.
He said, "Back in Saudi Arabia you enjoy your time with the family, go to the mosque and feel the environment of Ramadan."
The first day of the holiday is very important.
Families gather for dinner which is called iftar. Women usually cook traditional food and a variety of dishes of different cuisines.
"I have prepared some traditional food and put it in the freezer. So it will be easy to cook after the classes," Qahwaji said.
Some of the dishes are sambosya (patty with different fillings), besbosya (Mediterranean desert) and lougeimat (sweet balls with syrup).
Qahwaji plans to make oat soup with meat as well.
Hasan is also going to cook after his classes.
One of his favorite dishes for Ramadan is tharid - a mixture of chicken or meat soup and traditional bread.
Manaf Bashir, a graduate student from Kuwait who is also a graduate advisor for the Arab Student Organization at SCSU, said his organization is planning on doing activities during Ramadan to promote the Arab culture and traditions and to share this special month with the SCSU community.
Activities for children are also held.
In Kuwait, Bashir said, children dress up in traditional clothes. They go from house to house, sing songs and get sweets, cookies, fruit and nuts. It is very close to Halloween in the United States, although the idea behind the holiday is different.
Many Muslims will be reading the Quran and pray as much as they can during this month.
"To feel this month even if I'm far from home," Hasan said.
The end of Ramadan will be marked with three days of celebrations which are called Eid al-Fitr, where people also congratulate each other for the end of the holy month of Ramadan.