It is a widely observed month for students, staff and faculty that participates in it. To better help students prepare, MSU’s Muslim Students’ Association and Spartan Shifa decided to come together to host a workshop.

“This is the first time in a while we’ve had a Ramadan event on campus since COVID happened,” junior neuroscience major Iraj Ahmad said. “It was just a way for a lot of college Muslim students to be familiar with the resources and things that they can do while being on-campus.”

The workshop gave students the opportunity to reflect on Ramadan through icebreakers and writing prompts. The prompts asked students how they celebrate the holiday, as well as goals that they had for this year. Students were able to reflect and learn about Ramadan through a series of discussions.

One of the main discussions of the workshop was addiction and how it impacts the Muslim community. Students got the chance to share their experiences with addiction and how to overcome it. “A lot of people think that Ramadan is something Muslims do to stop eating and drinking,” Ahmad said. “But it’s also about practicing good habits and keeping away from the bad habits.”

Another point brought up in the workshop was substance abuse. “A lot of times when you’re fasting, it’s harder to directly go to substance abuse,” junior psychology major Mariam Turkey said. Turkey also mentions that Ramadan helps refrain from alcohol and smoking, which people might do on a daily or weekly basis.

The Muslim Students’ Association will be offering reflection rooms for prayer on-campus:

Students who are observing Ramadan will have dining options available to them in dining halls across campus. The dining options will include prepackaged breakfast options in addition to dinner selections. Students can find a list of Ramadan food options here. To learn more about Ramadan and how you can observe it, you can visit this link. You can also follow the Muslim Students’ Association and Spartan Shifa on Instagram for up-to-date information on Ramadan.