Courtesy of Fateya Omer

Throughout Ramadan — which officially began on Thursday, March 23 and concluded on Friday, April 21 — members of the Yale and New Haven community gathered for an array of events and activities on campus to celebrate the holy month.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and for Muslims all over the world, it is a month of fasting, prayer and reflection. In observance of Ramadan, many Muslims will fast from dawn to sundown. Events on campus ranged from daily Taraweeh prayers — an additional night prayer performed only during Ramadan — to weekly community Iftar dinners and a campus-wide Eid prayer at the end of Ramadan.

“I’ve been here [in New Haven] 15 years, and in my 15 years, the [Muslim] community has grown quite dramatically, which is really wonderful, but now we need to have on-campus programming that meets the needs of the growing community,” Director of Muslim Life Omer Bajwa said.

While fasting, undergraduate students enrolled in a meal plan were eligible for daily Iftar — dinner — and Suhoor — breakfast — boxed meals in the Morse College dining hall, which was the designated dining hall for Ramadan meals. Students could also pick up a Suhoor boxed meal from the Morse dining hall during Iftar time. Graduate and professional students had access to meal accommodations in their respective schools.

Daily Taraweeh prayers, which consisted of the Isha — mandatory night prayer — and 20 rakats — additional ritual prayers — were held in Dwight Chapel every day at 9 p.m.

These daily times of prayer led to over 40 community members gathering each night. Prayers were also regularly held at 2 a.m., which between 20 to 30 people would attend.

“This is the second year in a very long time that Ramadan has fallen during the academic calendar,” Bajwa said. “Now Ramadan falls during the academic term… That’s why we now have on-campus Eid prayer arrangements. We did it last year in 2022, this year in 2023, and we will in subsequent years. But prior to that, we didn’t because we didn’t need to.”

While individuals had their fast-breaking Iftar dinner daily, a community Iftar dinner hosted by Bajwa was held weekly as well. The dinners were hosted in Dwight Chapel on March 26, March 31, April 7 and April 14.

These community Iftars were catered through the Chaplain’s Office budget, and approximately 150 to 200 people attended each one. The dinners were not only open to students but also to faculty, staff and families in the New Haven community.

“I think [the growing Muslim community] has been one of the biggest blessings of this year,” said Muslim Students Association president Zahra Yarali ’24. “One other thing that I think Ramadan has really shown me and has been a testament to is just how deeply invested in each other we are, in not only each other’s social well-being, in each other’s academic well-being but also in each other’s spiritual well-being.”

On Monday, April 17, the annual Ramadan Banquet was held at the Omni Hotel New Haven. This was the 15th time that Bajwa organized the event as part of the Yale Chaplain’s Office.

The night began at approximately 6 p.m. and consisted of opening remarks, a special screening of the film “Stranger at the Gate” and a panel discussion. There was also time devoted to the Iftar dinner, prayer and socializing.

“During every odd night of the last 10 nights of Ramadan, we had the opportunity to go to HOC Baskin-Sommers’s house to cook food [for suhoor] in her big kitchen,” said Hasfa Fazl ’25. “It was just incredible that we even had this opportunity to make homemade food and eat hot food and celebrate making our fasts with everyone in the Muslim community.”

This past Friday, April 21, many Muslim community members gathered in Dwight Chapel to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, with a time of campus prayer, a sermon and refreshments.

While this time of prayer was the University’s official celebration of Eid, the remainder of the day and the days following Eid continued to be filled with various activities and events organized by smaller communities within Yale and New Haven. 

According to Bajwa, graduate Muslim students at Yale had a picnic to celebrate on Saturday, while some students even went home for the weekend to celebrate the holiday with their families.

“We just have to keep creating awareness and empowering students to feel that they can advocate for rightful accommodations,” Bajwa told the News.

In 2024, Ramadan is expected to begin on the evening of Sunday, March 10.