For years, Assya Aallouche’s typical suhoor, the meal before sunrise, included a traditional Moroccan breakfast dish called Khobz o zit, made of whole wheat bread dipped in olive oil.
Now, the law student from Lyon, France can get her pre-dawn meal ahead of a day of fasting from Everybody’s Kitchen — along with many others observing Ramadan on campus. The meal kit is just one of the initiatives taken by USC to provide students with resources that allow them to more easily observe their faith.
“This year, the president’s office generously established a Ramadan Fund in perpetuity to ensure that we will continue to be able to offer iftars for students moving forward,” Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life, said.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by more than a billion Muslims worldwide. It is characterized most often by fasting; the observation of Ramadan involves abstaining from food and drink from dawn until sunset for the entirety of the month to increase Taqwa, or God-consciousness, serving as a reminder that if basic physical needs can be refrained from, then other aspects of character and personal vices truly can be overcome.
Ramadan is also significant as the month of the Quran’s initial revelation to the Prophet Muhammad, encouraging spiritual reflection and discipline through various forms of worship. This is often through the night prayers, namely Taraweeh and Qiyam.
“The month allows me to experience this intense feeling of His (God’s) closeness in a way that is beyond words,” said Julia Carrigan, a junior at Occidental College majoring in mathematics and media, arts and culture. “It’s an insane feeling of knowing He is with you in every moment and knows you better than you know yourself. More than anything, it’s about realizing how finite you are and how infinite God is.”
Despite not attending USC, Carrigan was drawn to the strong, vibrant community cultivated by the USC Muslim Student Union (MSU) three years ago and began participating in Ramadan with the student body. She said that she hasn’t missed one since.
For Saeed Dardas, a junior majoring in neuroscience, Ramadan brings back fond memories from his time overseas.
Originally of Palestinian descent, Dardas was born in Chicago and spent part of his childhood in Palestine and Jordan before returning to the United States.
“You’d wake up for suhoor to a guy beating a drum in the neighborhood,” he said. “The prevalence of Ramadan is so immersive, and it feels like the whole culture: the whole work and school shift changes to accommodate for fasting and nightly worship, the streets are live and bustling throughout the night, and the melodic recitation of Quran can be heard from mosques filling the city.”
For observant Muslims, the end of a day of fasting marks the start of a night immersed in prayer. At USC, in addition to hosting various Ramadan-centric events throughout the week, after providing free iftar for worshippers from Monday through Friday, the MSU hosts Taraweeh prayers providing students with ease of access to a spiritual space for communal worship and reflection after a communal iftar.
“I find that anything you could ever want to confide in anyone else is most perfect when said to Allah, and He already knows but He loves for you to tell Him, which is just a paradox of His kindness, and it’s hard to feel that spiritual ecstasy if you picture you and Him as separate,” Carrigan said. “It takes a lot of practice, and Ramadan is the time to build those habits that last.”
However, for many students at USC and across the globe, the emotion surrounding this year’s Ramadan feels void of the joy and life that typically defines the holy month due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
As of Thursday, the official death toll stands at more than 33,000 Palestinians in 181 days, with Muslims, Americans, human rights activists, and humanitarian organizations among others continuing to call for an immediate ceasefire. With the cancellation of President Biden’s inaugural iftar dinner due to Muslim leaders and representatives’ refusal to attend, communities are directing their worship towards calling for change.
Carrigan explains, “Islam is not a monastic tradition. The ideal being to be fully present and feeling a sense of responsibility to be involved in all aspects of society from spiritual to socioeconomic.”
“Traditionally, the privileges of being able to practice Ramadan in a supportive environment that we typically yearn for now ceases to exist in Gaza,” Dardas said. “Most people are the lone survivors of their entire neighborhoods and communities and don’t have anyone to break fast with, much less anything to eat due to the blockade on the entry of critical food and aid.”
He continues,”Seeing their undying faith as they participate in Ramadan, praying in the rubbles of their mosques and homes posed a question to me personally. I have things going on as a college student sure, but it’s nowhere near what is going on there, so what excuse do I have to not participate in extra worship?”