To celebrate Ramadan at Michigan State University, the Muslim Student Association hosts Iftars for the Muslim community on campus. This year, the organization hosted three Iftar events, each dedicated to a different community within the Muslim faith.  

Wednesday's event was co-hosted by Spartan Zubaan, the Somali Student Association and the Sudanese Student Association, with MSA providing catering from My Thai.

To signal the start of Iftar, the adhan was performed, otherwise known as the call for prayer. Volunteers handed out dates and bottles of water so participants could break their fasts as the sun set. 

Men and women prayed on different floors of the Multicultural Center in designated prayer rooms, where prayer mats were provided. Before entering the room, participants removed their shoes, and women took the additional step of covering their hair.  

Following the completion of maghrib, the prayer performed at sunset, two twin lines formed as food was served. 

For supply chain senior and MSA president Saif Sheikh, the focus of these events is fostering a sense of "unity" and "community-building."

Sheikh was raised in Pakistan before moving to Michigan for university. His closest relative is in California, on the other side of the country.

"For me, without these guys, there is no community here," Sheikh said. "These guys sort of become like family."

Many have extended Iftar invitations to Sheikh on days MSA is not hosting, he said. 

Accounting freshman Maha Alam saw a flyer for Iftar on Instagram advertising the event and was urged by friends to attend. Alam has attended all the Iftars hosted by MSA for Ramadan this year.

"It was my first time being away from home," Alam said. "It was difficult, hard, but I made some good memories with my friends."

Alam plans on attending more Iftar events next Ramadan. 

Sociology senior Salem Alrowaihi found out about Iftar events through a WhatsApp group chat and has attended two so far. Although the food played a big role in her attending, the main thing for her was "community" and "socializing," Alrowaihi said. 

"Alhamdulillah, Allah has really blessed me with finding out more about the Muslim community on campus, because I was kind of just dealing with it on my own," Alrowaihi said. 

One of Alrowaihi’s favorite parts of the event was hearing the adhan: "That's not something you usually get the privilege of," she said. "Whereas, if you were living in a Muslim majority country, that is something that I think gets almost taken for granted at times."

Alrowaihi emphasized the importance of unity for "modern Muslims living in the West … especially when you have so much confusion on all ends and in-fighting and out-fighting."

"With the political turmoil, everything going on, it is definitely a time to show everyone that we are Muslims, we are on campus, and we are here for everyone," Sheikh said.