Traditional fasts by Muslims, Christians and adherents of the Baha’i faith have coincided this year, and some students at the University of Virginia took part last week in an interfaith gathering to break fast together. WMRA’s Ayse Pirge reports.
DELANEY COURI: When I first took this job as an Interfaith Coordinator, it was important to me that I acknowledge, like all the faith traditions that I could find, and that were maybe having a big celebrations or events.
Delaney Couri oversees the Interfaith Student Center at the University of Virginia.
COURI: And so, when I saw that Lent was going to start the same day as Ramadan, and then was going to cross over with the Baha’i Nineteen Days of Fast, I was like, oh my gosh, like this is like this one-in-a-lifetime crossover of all these faiths breaking their fast together, so I have to organize something.
The month of Ramadan, which honors the Quran’s revelation, is observed by Muslims through fasting and giving charity. Lent is observed by many Christian denominations in a period of 40 days leading up to Easter, and can be accompanied by fasting. The Nineteen-Day Fast is observed by adherents of the Baha’i faith. Fasting in all three religious traditions is connected with spiritual and personal growth.
COURI: Personally, I identify as Christian, and I have Muslim interns that I work with, and I am just kind of a nerd about religion… My whole goal with this job is just to bring people together from different spiritual backgrounds, no spiritual backgrounds… So I just wanted to yeah, have a space where we kind of acknowledge all of the things going on and got to share a meal together.
Couri says the Interfaith Coordinator position is a new addition to the Interfaith Student Center.
COURI: So, this position as the Interfaith Coordinator didn’t exist. So, I’m the first person to be filling it. And I started last June… so I’m kind of the first person to be dedicated to this space.
And Couri believes students have been receptive to these types of events.
COURI: And so, it’s been really fun to have somebody, like full-time, getting to work on this space. Because the students I think are like, not as used to programming happening in here… This year, now that there’s been more consistency, and someone dedicated to kind of build relationships, I think students have been really willing to come and show up.
Couri says the feedback was especially positive for the event on March 10th, at which participants from different faiths broke their fasts in the evening, together.
COURI: I got a lot of thank yous, I got some people that want to know more about events, so that’s really promising.
Sameera Chaudhry was one of the attendants at the event. She’s a first year student at UVA, and is planning to major in Neuroscience.
SAMEERA CHAUDHRY: I wanted to come because all these events they do here are really like welcoming, and just, I like how it’s a tight-knit kind of community. And also, it’s fun to just like talk with other people and bond over food after talking about fasting.
She is also interested in learning about different religious perspectives.
CHAUDHRY: I have a lot of friends who are Muslim, so they told me a lot about how their Ramadan is going and everything… I think that’s what encouraged me to come to them more. Like, learning about new perspectives here.
Mohamed Warsame is a third year student studying Computer Science.
MOHAMED WARSAME: I’m practicing Ramadan right now, so I always come here to pray regularly. So, I knew there was some type of interfaith event and I knew there were people in my community … and I was interested in learning about others as well.
He says he appreciates seeing people of other faiths also fasting.
WARSAME: So, it’s nice seeing other people I know also fasting like their own specific fast.
Students can also visit the Interfaith Student Center to, well, pray. Hansa Tonguc is a fourth year student majoring in history. She says she’s organized iftar events before – that’s the evening meal to break the daily fast during Ramadan, held at sunset. Tonguc says that at UVA you can find all kinds of different backgrounds.
HANSA TONGUC: And I think it is a great opportunity to bring such a diverse group together.
And, she says, people love eating.
