Ramadan Mubarak! Here are some answers to your questions about the holy month.

by APASA intern Yusuf Rahman

The Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque located right on Vermont and Exposition. The mosque is open for all five prayers in addition to Taraweeh, an additional nightly prayer that Muslims observe during the holy month. Image from Wikimedia Commons. 

Ramadan Mubarak! The Islamic holy month has arrived, and the USC Muslim community is as vibrant as ever. Ramadan has always been a special time for me as a Muslim American, and it’s something I, along with countless others, look forward to the whole year as a time for fasting and revitalizing our connections we have with our fellow Muslims through donations and prayer.

As an Asian American, and as somebody of South Asian descent in particular, I belong to a group of people with some of the biggest and most diverse Muslim populations in the world. But what exactly is this holy month, and how can we use this moment to come together and celebrate our collective heritage?

To help me answer these questions, I spoke with Asna Tabassum, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering and a member of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) here at USC. 

For the next month, many (but not all!) Muslims around the globe will be fasting from sunrise to sunset, which does include water. We will engage in additional nightly prayers called Taraweeh in addition to our regular 5-times-a-day prayers, and many members of our community choose to read the Quran, our holy book, from start to finish during this time. And of course, one cannot forget Eid Al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan where people celebrate with gifts and prayer among other familial and cultural traditions.

As Asna pointed out, there are several ways to observe this incredibly rich period of time here at USC. Even though many of us are far from our families, every night, the MSU is providing free dates and water for students to break their fasts at Iftaar, the meal taken at sunset. But that’s not the only way Muslim students can practice fasting this month. “EVK is actually planning to give out meal boxes, which is super cool,” she explained. “You can spend a meal swipe to get a box for your breakfast or your dinner.”

She encourages all students who are curious, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, to get involved. When it comes to prayers, for example, Asna emphasizes that the MSU welcomes all. “A lot of people bring their friends, so it's really awesome to talk to people who are curious about Islam because I feel like it flies under the radar a lot of times.”

In fact, it often goes unnoticed that Asia is home to a large number of Muslims. Almost 62% of Malaysia is Muslim, for example, and more than 200 million people in India also identify with Islam. Many immigrants from Asia to the U.S. are also Muslim and continuously face immense discrimination. I firmly believe that it is crucial we shed light on these experiences, because the truth is, they are not as far removed from Asian America as we might believe.

Particularly when it comes to being Indian and Muslim, Asna sees a stark lack of intersectionality. “Being Indian specifically and Muslim is so weird because we don't get anything in America, like in terms of solidarity. So it's like, okay, well, I'm brown, but I'm not even welcomed by my own ethnicity.” 

So this Ramadan, I hope we all can do some work in confronting our biases and standing up for every member of our community. Here are some final thoughts, then, to clarify any of your other concerns. It is perfectly okay if you eat in front of me—really, I do not care. But I appreciate you asking, and if you still feel uncomfortable, feel free to ask. But I’d imagine that most Muslims would feel the same. And if you want to understand something or talk, again, feel free to ask! You can always visit the University Religious Center or just talk to a friend. People are always open to sharing their backgrounds, and through doing so, we all can become more connected, informed advocates.