BY OLIVIA VAN DEURSEN
The Old Bridge High School and Sayreville High School Muslim Student Associations hosted a Ramadan Iftaar event on April 13 in the OBHS Main Cafeteria. Students celebrated developing their relationship with God and reflecting on themselves and their habits. Food and activities provided nourishment and entertainment for students at the event.
Muslims practice fasting, where they don’t consume any food or drink from sunrise to sunset, during the month of Ramadan to teach discipline and build a connection with God. The attendees broke their fast at the Iftaar celebration. “Ramadan is a holy month for [Muslims] where we fast and dedicate most of our time on working on our relationship with [Islam] and helping out the [Muslim] community,” shared Sarah Amin.
The MSA decided to combine with Sayreville to unite the Muslim Communities together. “We’ve never done a joint event before, so we thought it would be a good idea to invite their community to our event as well,” explained Samreen Ijaz, Secretary for the Old Bridge MSA.
The students from Sayreville gave the Old Bridge Muslim Community a chance to connect with more students from their culture. “I attended this event because I thought it was a nice [opportunity] to attend a school event while being surrounded by my peers who are also Muslim,” noted Iqra Shahzad.
Students also enjoyed being able to break their fast and eat dishes from their culture. “I wanted to celebrate breaking my fast with my friends, and I heard the food was going to be really good,” explained Ayan Adnan.
The activities included spikeball, henna, a DIY station, and more. “[My] favorite activity was when we played spikeball because it was fun, and we also had a tournament,” added Adnan.
The students who attended had a great time getting to break their fast while socializing with their peers. “Just seeing the community come together to break their fasts and learn about Ramadan was a really surreal experience,” Ijaz shared. “The fact that we were even able to have an Iftaar that big at OBHS was incredible, and we’re really thankful to everyone who made it happen!”
Posted on 5/26/23
Photos by Olivia Van Deursen
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