Fall says that the most meaningful aspect of Ramadan to her is constantly evolving.

“We are young people and I’m restless. When Ramadan comes around I find a more peaceful side of myself,” Fall says. “As I grow, I enjoy getting more time and opportunity to practice my religion during Ramadan. This year, for instance, I did not devote a lot of time to my religion and spirituality with all the work at Harvard.”

HARVARD'S TRADITIONS

Yasin was raised in Scituate, Mass., 20 miles south of Boston, a community where he knows no other Muslims. Raised by a Bangladeshi father and a white mother who converted to Islam, Yasin attributes his view of his faith as diverse—“not only comprised of Arabs or South Asians”—to his mixed background. While he expected to find diversity in the Harvard Islamic Society, he was unsure of what it would entail with respect to people’s practices.

“When I got to college, I would see the different cultural traditions that Arabs have and Caucasians have. It’s partially religious, partially cultural,” Yasin says. “I was oblivious to different trends and interpretations. I had an individualized non-communal background.”

Yasin says community-building happens most during Ramadan, the biggest event on the HIS calendar. Historically, the organization has celebrated the holy month with catered iftars daily in Ticknor Lounge, drawing more than 80 graduate and undergraduate students.

With fewer people in Cambridge this summer, the group held three iftars per week, but the society continued to draw a consistent group of people Yasin calls his “brothers and sisters.”

“As part of the only Muslim family in my town growing up in suburban Massachusetts, I missed having a strong Muslim community outside of my nuclear family and so I have really embraced HIS since coming to Harvard,” says Yasin.

Awwad fondly recalls Ramadan with HIS as the “perfect introduction” to the College, especially as a first-year international student searching for a niche. As classes began, the society co-sponsored interfaith dinners and dialogues with student groups. Dinners served as a forum to meet Muslims and non-Muslims, while sharing the traditions of Ramadan.

“We even held iftars with faculty and had the chance to meet people from different religions,” Awwad says. “The events helped me connect to home. HIS was helpful in ways I didn’t imagine.”

SPACES AND SPIRITUALITY

Shortly after Hassan was born in Saudi Arabia, her family bounced to the U.S. Midwest, ultimately landing in Minnesota. She moved to Ham Lake, where she practiced Ramadan this summer. While she says there a sizable Muslim community concentrated in the Twin Cities, her town lacks a Muslim presence.

“There are Muslim communities within reach, but where we live there are few Muslims and people of color generally,” Hassan says.

Growing up in Fridley, Minn., in a community of largely first- and second-generation immigrants, Hassan recalls fasting with five other students in her grade. The school provided accommodations for observing students in a separate room.

“We didn't want to go to lunchroom and watch everyone eat. Over 30 days, we grew close,” Hassan says.