CHICAGO,
November 11 (IslamOnline.net) - For over two weeks now, the Muslim
Students Association (MSA) at DePaul University has been coordinating
community meals for Muslim students to break their dawn-to-dusk
fasting on campus.
DePaul
University, one of Chicago’s biggest universities and the second
largest Catholic university in the U.S. has been funding the Monday to
Thursday Iftars held by the MSA.
The
MSA, also known as UMMA United Muslims Moving Ahead, is considered one
of the most active Muslim associations within Chicago’s several big
universities. The Iftars gather Muslim students who attend classes at
both the Lincoln Park and the downtown Chicago Loop campuses.
“This
tradition has been going for the past four years,” Nedaa Alwawi, an
undergrad student and Secretary of UMMA, told IslamOnline.net.
In
the Courtelyou Hall, a chapel like building with old gothic
architecture located within the Lincoln Park campus, Muslim students
meet four days a week to break their fast with dates, pray Maghrib,
then sit down to have their first meal of the day.
The
Iftars have been a warm gathering of the students of all background,
African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans and even Christian
students who are interested in knowing more about the Islamic faith.
Anita
Zgoda, a catholic studying sociology, has been fasting five days a
week Monday through Friday, in an attempt to get to know Islam.
Through one of the anthropology classes she was asked like her other
class-mates to study one of the religions, Zgoda choose Islam thinking
it is far from Christianity.
“I
found that Islam and Catholicism have a lot to do with each other,”
said Zgoda, who have been joining the Iftars on campus.
The
MSA has been allocated almost $3000 to accommodate for the several
Iftars held till the end of the month of Ramadan which happens to end
this year by the end of the quarter term.
 |
|
Muslim students at Depaul University performing Maghrib prayers
|
The
funds are allocated through several bodies within the university, this
year the funds came mainly from the Students Activity Board and the
Cultural Fund Center. At the end of the quarter, the MSA will have to
present receipts as a proof of purchase for all food purchases during
the month.
Because
the number of students gathering daily for the meal range from 80 to
130, the MSA have been encouraging its members to sponsor some Iftars
to help balance the budget.
“We
have to make sure that all the catered food contains only Zabiha
meat,” said Alwawi. Zabiha is the term commonly used referring to
meat slaughtered according to the Islamic guidelines. Students who
sponsor some of the Iftars cater only from restaurants complying with
those guidelines.
In
Chicago’s cold weather, several of the male students gather outside
the building standing on the concrete stairs, they smoke their after-Iftar
cigarettes since smoking is not permitted inside the
campus building.
“The
hardest part of the fast is what you try not to think of,” said
Zgoda, “what you try not to say or keep your mind off.”
