Friends, family, students and teachers poured into the MLK room on the evening of Thursday, March 28 to break fast together in a celebration of Iftar.

Iftar is the traditional breaking of the Ramadan fast, which occurs at sunset. This year, for the first time, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) organized a celebration for the high school community. MSA co-president and senior Zyad Baliamoune said there are customs that go along with the evening.

“It’s accustomed to break [the fast] with a date and a glass of water or milk. Then, you go to pray, which is what we did, and then you come back for the food,” Baliamoune said.

Feiza Khan, parent of two high school students, said she thought it was important to celebrate and recognize Ramadan and Iftar as a community.

“I feel [the celebration] brings a kind of feeling of acceptance to this minority of Muslims who are here, and also it brings the right kind of light to the religion,” Khan said. “Because we have fasted all day, we have shown resilience to food which is in front of us.”

Sophomore and MSA member Sophia Ismail said there was a lot of preparation by the MSA that went into organizing the event.

“We had some teachers help us book the room, and we used money from one of our bake sales earlier this year to help fund some of the food, and also some of our friends brought decor and things like that,” Ismail said. “We spent about a month now working on it, and it’s nice to see it come to life.”

Khan said it was a special occasion for her to attend Iftar for the first time at the high school.

“My twins are seniors. This is their last year at the high school, and this is the first year the MSA is having [a celebration],” Khan said. “So this is a very special occasion when they’re going out and a tradition is started.”

Baliamoune said that the season of Ramadan is an important time for Muslims to strengthen their relationship with God.

“Ramadan isn’t a time where you only abstain from food and water. You abstain from bad habits, you abstain from bad things in general,” Baliamoune said. “You’re supposed to get closer to God. So like, let’s say, the past couple of months are like, ‘Hey, my relationship with God hasn’t been that good. I’m trying to do better. I’m trying to look for better.’ This is the perfect time.”