Ramadan In Oberlin
By Ali Najmi
Ramadan, the holiest month on the Muslim calendar, began the first week
of October. Muslim obligations during Ramadan include fasting from sunrise
to sunset for the entire month. Fasting includes abstaining from food
and drink; however, according to some religious traditions, a person’s
fast can be broken for certain reasons.
“Ramadan is not just a fast of your stomach, it is a fast of your
ears, eyes, tongue, and brain” said Imam Samir al Tabba, a Muslim
clergyman from the Lorain Islamic Association during a biweekly religious
study he provides to Oberlin students. The Imam was referring to the
spirit of self discipline involved in Ramadan and implying that a fast
can be broken by improper thoughts, speech (cursing), and surrounding
yourself around un-Islamic behavior. Fasting is also a means for Muslims
to worship Allah and to empathize with the underprivileged who go hungry.
Oberlin’s Muslim population has been observing the month of Ramadan
in different ways. The daily breaking of the fast, known as iftar, is
conducted at the Kosher-Halal Co-op and is immediately followed by prayers.
Weekend iftars are more elaborate and include trips to the Lorain Islamic
Association to break fast with the Lorain Muslim community as well as
dinners held by the Muslim Students Association in Wilder. Traditional,
but not obligatory night prayers are held during each night of Ramadan
in which a selected reading of the Qur’an is completed each night
in hopes of completing the entire book by the end of the month. This
ritual, known as tarawih, includes a smaller portion of the Oberlin
Muslim community than other events, but does occur on a regular basis.
A large range exists in the level observance and practice of Ramadan
at Oberlin.
For Rehan Jamil (’07), the “cultural aspect of it like food
and getting together” is what matters the most. Subsequently,
Rehan hasn’t kept all his prescribed fasts. Others such as Lee
Hislop (’07) focus on the spiritual aspects: “I feel like
Allah is with me because I am making a sacrifice.”
Experience with Ramadan also varies from those born into Islam, who
have fasted since they were 11 and 12 years old, to recent converts
like Oheneba Amponsah (’09) who is fasting for the first time.
“I’ve been around a very supportive community and its allowed
me to reflect on my relationship with God,” said Oheneba on the
course of his first Ramadan.
The daily fasting can be challenging for some in Oberlin. Rehan Jamil
contrasted Ramadan in Oberlin with his experience in his native Pakistan;
“The pace of life in Pakistan changes, unlike here. In that sense,
for Muslim-Americans they have a much tougher experience because the
entire society is not fasting with you. You might have class when you
are supposed to break your fast”.
Some Muslim students have also fasted while participating in Oberlin
athletics, such as Oheneba Amponsah who plays tennis for the college:
“I practice while I am fasting and at times its tough but it’s
made me a different person and more disciplined”. Umra Omar (’06)
played field hockey the past two years and fasted during the season.
This year, since she isn’t playing her biggest challenge during
Ramadan, it is a different one, “the long days make it worse”
she says.
The Muslim calendar is lunar based and Ramadan moves back about 12 days
every year, meaning in a few years people will fast in the middle of
the summer with the longest days of the year.
Oberlin’s Muslim community has been affected by low numbers of
Muslims applying to the college; however it still maintains observance
of traditions with the hope of creating a supportive community for those
currently at Oberlin. Islam is practiced by more than a billion people
worldwide, but only comprises a fraction of the Oberlin population.
However, as Umra Omar points out, that can be a positive element “it
makes you stronger, makes you get in touch with where you are from.”
For many in the Oberlin Muslim community this month has been about understanding
their identity as Muslims and relationship with God, usually over various
Arab and South Asian delicacies.
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