Between attending classes and work and studying and an internship, finding the time to make food for iftar can be very difficult for Noor Teebi, a third year at UCLA who is spending her first Ramadan on her own. Being away from home for the first time, many other Muslim students face the same unexpected challenges of having to wake up for suhoor on their own without a parent to drag them out of bed or making it through an [...]
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It is a Saturday evening and your racing endorphins put you on the edge as you prepare to attend your first ever Qiyam-Al-Layl, a Sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions to stand up in worship all night long. You napped during the day just to get the energy to stay awake during this night. You are excited and pumped up for what was promised to you in those emails. But what they didn’t advertise [...]
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Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Alia Ghoneum When I was a child, I used to visit Egypt two to three times a year, so much so that I got an “excessive absence” warning on my first grade report card. As the years went by and after my grandmother Teta Dawlat passed away (Allah yarham), I have not been back for six years. Alhamduillah millioon mara, I was so fortunate to [...]
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Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Sumaya Bezrati (Special recipe included at the end.) As a fairly new mother with a toddler in tow, I have thought long and hard about Ramadan traditions that will instill a sense of love for the Holy month in my children. It can be hard living in a predominately non-Muslim society, where sometimes the spirit of Ramadan isn’t always felt. Especially, if you are like [...]
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Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story When I was a child, my family and I would visit Karachi, Pakistan every other year during November or December and spend a month there (I guess it wasn’t such a big deal if an elementary school kid started winter vacation a few weeks early). Back in those days, Ramadan fell during winter, so we would spend majority of Ramadan in Pakistan and celebrate Eid there [...]
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Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Samina Mohammad Since I live in a college town in Indiana, Ramadan and Eid is the time when my community comes together to help the college students feel part of a family. The mosque has daily iftars for them and each family would be responsible for cooking for a particular day. We have about 15 families that contribute and the MSA brothers come to our [...]
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Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Amelia Noor I have a dear memory of my post office delivery worker from when I was a child. I lived in an apartment with my family, and my mother would always fry samosas for us before iftar time. Samosas were a specialty since we never had them during any other time of the year. I remember that I had established a dear friendship with [...]
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