The professor scowled at his student, “You’re going to have to make the decision-how important is this class to you? You’ll be missing class for a family gathering? How big is your family? ”
This is what I overheard my professor asking a student who said he might not be at the next class.
The student tried to explain to the elder what “Eid” is to Muslims around the world.
But the professor had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Which is startling, considering 1.8 billion people around the world are preparing to have the biggest celebration of the year.
“That is like a Muslim not knowing about Christmas,” said Hashim Abdul Allah “Of course, we know all about the holiday, and about Christianity.”
For the past month, many of the estimated 400 Muslim students at USM have been fasting from sunup to sundown for the holy month Ramadan, as part of the global observation, and an important part of their faith.
The practice is meant to encourage Muslims to think about people who are starving and less fortunate around the world. It highlights the importance of charity, which is one of five pillars of the religion.
Not to mention, says student Ruqiya Abdulle, from Somalia, “You remember to pray every time you think of eating. It helps you put things in perspective, and remember the poorer people of the world, while we have so much food here.”
This week the world breaks the fast of Ramadan with the celebration of Eid ul-Fitr, which means ‘feast’ and ‘of breaking the fast’ a celebration so important that much of the world has the week off.
“There is a misconception that Islam is an Arab religion, when in fact, about 85% of Muslims are elsewhere, in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas,” says Reza Jalali, faculty and coordinator of USM’s Multicultural Center. “Muslims are people working, playing. living beside you, in your neighborhood, people just like you, worshipping the same God, respecting Jesus Christ, Moses, sharing the same heritage, as Christians.”
In talking with eleven of USM’s Multicultural Students, they express the same concerns as Reza. The stereotypes blind people, they say.
This is why the group has planned a community-wide Eid celebration at USM this week.
Muslims and non-Muslims are invited to this feast meant to “bridge the gap and clear up misunderstandings between people, as well as serve as a bridge between USM and the community,” says Sarah Abdulle, vice president of the Multicultural Student Association at USM.
President Selma Botman will attend the event, as well as Portland’s mayor, Edward Suslovic and Maine attorney general Steve Rowe,
Also in attendance will be a pair of guests who are in Portland for a difficult reason. Six-year-old Nesma and her father are from Iraq, living in Portland as she receives treatment for an injury she received at age four when she was shot during the war.
They will be joined by the USM Multicultural Student Association, which plans to become an active student group this October, after being defunct for two years.
Omar Ibourk, president of the group, took a USM kayaking course this semester, but found himself doing a little teaching instead. “We stopped at an island to break for lunch last week. When the class saw I wasn’t eating, they offered me what they had, ‘Why aren’t you eating,’ they asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ When I told them I was fasting, they asked me what I got out of it, why I participated. That day, ten people left knowing more.”
The group wants to spread this kind of knowledge to the USM community.
The Eid celebration will be held on Thursday, October 2 from 5-7 p.m. in the Campus Center’s Dining Hall in Portland. Passage to India has donated food, as well as many local shops and restaurants. All are welcome.
“Of course this is something new,” says Hamida Suja, part of the group and a member of USM’s Student Senate, “and with everything that’s new, people might wonder, should I go, should I try something new.But we’re hoping for a success, and we’re going to make this an annual event.”
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Eid ul-Fitr
Holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, Islamic holy month of fasting. In Arabic, Eid means “festivity” and Fitr means “to break the fast”
Ramadan
A religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when the Qua’ran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims don’t eat or drink from dawn to dusk to practice sacrifice, patience, and humility.
Five Pillars of Islam
1. Profession of Faith
2. Salat-ritual prayer
3. Alms giving, charity
4. Fasting during Ramadan
5. Hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca