Students at a Ramadan Iftar Night in March, 2025, held in the Interfaith Prayer and Reflection Room of the Union. Credit: Courtesy of Esma S. Sezen
At the sighting of the crescent moon on Tuesday, Ramadan is expected to go on until March 18.
For those fasting from sun-up to sundown, the Muslim Students Association at Ohio State offers ways for Muslim students to celebrate when they are away from home.
For the past few years, the MSA has offered a free meal and associated prayer from 6-10 p.m. every week night of Ramadan. This year, this will be offered in the Interfaith Room at the Ohio Union.?
“That would be like, the meal after sundown called ‘Iftar,’ which is what Muslims eat when they break their fast,” said Daanish Khan, the president of the MSA and fourth-year in computer science and engineering.?
“We want to provide that to students at least Monday through Thursday, just so that they can kind of have that feeling of being back home,” Khan said.
Zaid Mustafa, the outreach chair for MSA and a second-year in exercise science, said last year the club provided Ramadan catering for about 200 people a night.
“You feel really connected with the people around you because it’s something just as simple as sharing a meal with somebody in front of you. And you’re doing that for 15 days, you know, a whole month straight,” Mustafa said. “You get to really connect with people on a personal level.”?
Khan said celebrating Ramadan with the people he’s grown close to at college has been very meaningful.
“Especially because my family’s not in Columbus, getting to do Iftar with my family on campus essentially, was like a really important thing to me,” Khan said. “I’ve been helping out the past three years with Ramadan Iftars and stuff. Leading the prayer, that’s been one of the most spiritually enriching things for me.”
Khan said Ramadan helps him reflect on the past and look towards the future.
“For Ramadan, what it means to me is like, a time of reflection, a time of looking back, a time of looking forward,” Khan said.
Khan and Mustafa motivate non-Muslim students to come to MSA events.?
“We encourage Muslims to come because they’re the ones breaking their fast, but obviously, anyone is open to come and have a free meal,” Mustafa said.?
“It’s not only for Muslims. We also have events for non-Muslims all the time and we do encourage Muslims to bring their non-Muslim friends,” Khan said.?
Outside Ramadan, MSA hosts events for both Muslim and non-Muslim students.
“Every Friday, we have two to three services on campus in various different locations at different times where we provide a Friday prayer to Muslim students and non-Muslim students if they want to come and observe,” Mustafa said.?
MSA, along with other organizations on campus, will host its annual fast-athon, although the dates have not been confirmed, where Muslim and non-Muslim students break their fast together, according to Khan.
“The whole point is that we have people from all different backgrounds, all different religions, all different cultures. But if we don’t come together and try to learn from each other’s differences, then honestly, we can never really change,” Mustafa said.
MSA doesn’t just come together to break their fasts with Iftar during Ramadan, though. All year long, MSA also does community service, Khan and Mustafa said.?
“We try to foster a sense of community and service,” Mustafa said. “Obviously, we’re providing for Muslims on campus, but we also provide for everyone else on campus.”
MSA also organizes tournaments to fundraise money for charities. Earlier this month, it had a basketball tournament for refugees in Sudan, Mustafa said.
Information about upcoming events with the MSA, including the Iftar meals during Ramadan, sports tournaments for charity and volunteer opportunities, will be announced on the Muslim Students Association’s Instagram.
