University College Utrecht hosted Iftar on campus

On Friday 29 April, some University College Utrecht colleagues organised an Iftar event on campus. 'Iftar' is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. We spoke with initiator Sahra Farah about the event and how it came to be.

What was the event and why did you decide to organise it?

"The event was a way to celebrate the month of Ramadan as a community while at the same time learning more about what Ramadan is and why it’s more than just fasting. For me, Ramadan is really special and a month where I try my best to live in the moment, care more about the communities I am in, and read up on my religion more than normal. It’s a month of reflection, humbleness, charity and much more. However, my colleagues only see that I am not eating and feel bad for me when they are eating and/or drinking in the kitchen and even on screen. I really don’t have a problem with it, and it doesn’t affect me  at all. That was one of the reason why I thought it would be nice to get them to hear it from others. Another important reason why I wanted to organize was that I was in contact with a students who was breaking the fast alone and I realized there are probably more students that do that. I thought it would be very nice to have one night where they break the fast (iftar) with other students that might not be fasting but wanted to know more about ramadan and the iftar dinners."

You realised you wanted to host this event during the Ramadan. How did you go about organising it on such short notice?

"It clicked for me quite late that we should do this, and that the NPO money was a perfect way to bring this to the community. I checked with my counsel members what they thought and Markha generously offered to help me organise and be a sounding board. We wrote the proposal in two days and when the approval came in, we had two days to actually finalise it. On the night itself, the colleagues who were there helped a lot too. Special shoutout to Els Lemaire for emphasising the timeline to Utrecht University and that we needed an answer as soon as possible for this to happen on time. It took a small 24 hours to have all the places filled (75), something that I was hoping for but had not expected due to the late announcement."

What did you enjoy most about the evening?

"I very much enjoyed the lecture Zakina Loukili gave and learned from it too. Her part was supposed to be around an hour but the questions (really thoughtful, good questions) kept coming in. I think in the end it lasted for at least 2 hours and the conversations kept going after. Other than that the food was amazing, the company really good and the students were enjoying the abundance of food. It was great to organise such an event and I realized that I was not only proud on what we achieved in such a short amount of time, but I also felt so seen and happy to show others something that’s so important to me and to others in the UCU community."

Are you planning on organizing it again next year?

"I received a lot of wonderful messages from colleagues and students that said that they unfortunately couldn’t be there due to prior engagements, but that they were hoping that we can do it again next year. I definitely hope we will be able to organise this again next year. Of course then we will plan it way ahead and perhaps also extend the invitation to UU colleagues and students."