How Comets observe Ramadan

It was just kind of that cycle over and over again… until like 11 in the morning.”

UTD Dining said that the health of their guests is extremely important, and they commit to investigating all reports of issues immediately. Dining denied that Dining Hall West’s food was behind the reports of illness.

“UTD Dining was made aware that several students had stated they felt ill after eating a meal at Dining Hall West,” said Pam Stanley, director of Food &Retail Services with UTD Auxiliary Services, citing an emailed statement from Chartwells. “Then on April 7th, Dining Hall West received a visit by the local health department. Temperature logs, preparation steps and the equipment used were provided to the inspector. After a thorough inspection, the health inspector did not find any reason to believe the food would have been a cause of illness.”

The City of Richardson Health Department confirmed that Dining Hall West re-

SEE DINING, PAGE 8

Inside: Comets dress up for gala and reprom

FATIMAH AZEEM Opinion Editor

As the soulful call to prayer sounds, signifying sunset, healthcare freshman Siham Awel sinks her teeth into a chewy, sweet date—the first bite of sustenance she’s had in 16 hours.

Awel and a sizeable contingent of Muslim Comets abstain from eating and drinking from just before sunrise to just after sunset for 30 days during Ramadan. Ramadan, which shifts back by about a week and a half to two weeks every year to follow the lunar calendar, is fully during the school semester this year. During Ramadan, Muslims fast, read the Quran (Islamic scripture), pray special nightly prayers called tarawih and generally practice their best behavior to observe the month they believe the Quran was brought down to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The 30 days of Ramadan conclude with the full moon and a three-day celebration called Eid-alFitr, the largest Islamic celebration, which bears similar levels of importance to Easter for Christians.

“It’s one of the core pillars of Islam, so we should participate, [and] also it’s a time of year where I find myself able to reconnect with my faith,” Awel said. “Sometimes, more often than not, we kind of drift away from our faith, especially within the settings we live in and all the different worldly things around us. So, I like that Ramadan helps recenter us. My spirituality has given me willpower, so the fasting part is not challenging. And generally, fasting is not very hard after you’ve done it a few times and get used to it.”

While the act of fasting itself is not difficult for Awel, she said that scheduling her day around suhoor or sahari, the meal consumed just before daybreak to prepare for fasting, and iftar, the meal consumed just after sunset to conclude the day’s fast, mildly complicates her schedule.

“It’s been very interesting for me and a lot of student Muslims to say the least, because Ramadan is 100% within the spring semester this year and school is in-person. My sleep schedule is a bit chaotic, given the fact that we have to wake up before the crack of dawn for suhoor before I sleep again for my classes in a few hours, but it’s manageable…It’s a bit of extra work, but

I’m not out of wack or anything, and it’s absolutely worth it,” Awel said.

Awel usually breaks her fast after a long day of classes with a date, a sweet nutritious fruit which Muslims are encouraged to begin iftar with in the Quran. The remainder of Awel’s iftar consists of ethnic foods such as samosas, light pastries and various curries she prepares with her family, but really Muslims can eat anything for iftar as long as it is halal, or “permissible”— a concept similar to “kosher” in Judaism. Among foods that aren’t halal are pork, alcohol and any sort of animal product in which the animal wasn’t slaughtered humanely.

— Siham Awel

Sarah Baig, CS senior and the event coordinator for the Muslim Student Association on campus, says halal foods are offered at MSA’s Iftar Dining Service. Partnered with EPIC Masjid, Muslim students can grab a hot box of food from EPIC’s daily iftar feasts in Dining Hall West thirty

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