Muslims around the world celebrated the holiest month of the year from late March to late April. This year, Barstow students organized something special for Ramadan: a Fast-A-Thon for non-Muslim students.
“I thought it was great, we had a good portion who pledged to the fast with the MSA kids. For iftar, we had about 130 people come. I was really encouraged by it and I think the kids involved really liked it and wanted to be supported,” Mr. David Muhammad said.
Mr. Muhammad is the Dean of Student Services and a Co-Director of ID+E (Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) and worked with the MSA to create the Fast-A-Thon.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and focuses on introspection, charity, and worship. This month is not just abstaining from food and water, but also from bad actions and words.
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It is called sahm and is meant to help people empathize with the hardships of those less fortunate.
There are only certain times Muslims can eat during Ramadan. The fast goes from dawn to dusk. The morning meal is called suhoor, while the evening meal that breaks the fast is called iftar. People break the fast by eating dates and drinking water and then after the evening prayer will eat dinner. A lot of mosques have special community dinners where everyone can come together to break the fast.
At the end of the month, the last day is Eid ul-Fitr, or “Festival of Breaking the Fast.” This is one of the major holidays and it brings the community together to celebrate the end of the fast. This year, Eid will take place on April 21.
Barstow’s club, the Muslim Student Association (MSA), started a new event: Fast-A-Thon. Students who are not Muslim joined the fast alongside their classmates who were observing the month of Ramadan. At the end of the day, there was a dinner together to break the fast.
“I joined the Fast-A-Thon because I have fasted before, but I have never fasted that intensely; I thought it would be a fun experience. It was probably easier for me because I have fasted before. I have never been to an iftar, it was really beautiful. It was a pretty big event,” Olivia Taffe (‘26) said.
This year, the Fast-A-Thon was the biggest event that the MSA planned, but hopefully, next year this will return so more students can join to show their support. There were some problems with the project, like Spring Break. Spring Break fell in the middle of Ramadan, so MSA could not do as much as they would have liked.
As the MSA grows, however, there will be more events planned. If people want to keep up with the MSA, their Instagram gives updates about events they have planned and other information about Islam, such as the Five Pillars.
Next Ramadan, you can say “Ramadan Mubarak” (Happy Ramadan) or “Ramadan Kareem” (generous Ramadan) to those observing the fast. Ramadan Mubarak!
