Wooster’s Muslim Students Invite Community to Experience Ramadan

Service project, program, and meal scheduled for Monday, Sept. 6

WOOSTER, Ohio - Muslim students at The College of Wooster invite members of the campus and the community to experience Ramadan with a service project, program, and a Southeast Asian meal on Monday, Sept. 6.

The event is intended to spotlight the month of Ramadan (a sacred period of worship, fasting, prayer, and reading from the Qur'an), encourage interfaith dialogue, and celebrate the College’s longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusivity. Students will present a brief program regarding the traditions of Ramadan and then host a dinner in Kittredge Hall from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets for the meal, which are $8 for students and $10 for others, are now on sale in the bookstore in Lowry Center (1189 Beall Ave.). All persons who plan to attend the dinner are encouraged to fast from dawn to dusk in solidarity with the Muslim community in Wooster.

The focus of the program, which will be presented by Hanna Yousuf, the College’s Ambassador from Pakistan, will be on "Zak’t” also known as alms giving, and "Sawm," or fasting. Alms giving is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which calls for giving a portion of one’s wealth to the poor or needy.

Prior to the program and meal, approximately 40 College of Wooster students will conclude a day of fasting with a service project at Wooster Hospital's GreenPoint Community Garden, where they will pull weeds and pick ripe fruit and vegetables from 5:30-7 p.m.

Sponsors for the event include Wooster’s Center for Diversity and Global Engagement, the Ambassadors Program, NOOR (Muslim Students Association), Interfaith Campus Ministries, and the Wooster Volunteer Network.

Additional information is available by phone (330-263-2602 or 330-263-2074) or email.