The Muslim Student Association invited CSUN students and the community on Saturday, Sept. 20 to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and to break fasting after sunset.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset without eating or drinking.

‘God gives this month to Muslims to become patient,’ said Miran Mavlan, the treasurer of the MSA.

Food was brought in and served by the MSA members to all guests as speakers shared words from the Quran, the Muslims sacred book, valuing this faith and emphasizing the main point of the religion.

Salam Al-Marayati is the executive director of the Muslim public affairs council and the guest speaker of the MSA event.

‘You have the Quran that tells you what to do, you don’t need a scholar to tell you that God wants you to be fair, share peace and show justice,’ said Al-Marayati. ‘Ramadan is the time where we use thus prescription (the Quran) from God to prove ourselves as human beings to become more effective and relevant to society.’

The president of MSA, Umair Ibrahim, explained the point of extending this event to the Muslim community.

‘Many members of the community have been very supportive of our club’hellip;We want to stay connected to the community as they always support us,’ said Ibrahim.

‘We just wanted to bring all Muslim students and the community together to share our faith over Iftar,’ said Yussef Adams, a member of MSA. Iftar is the time where Muslims are allowed to eat and drink.

Families sat at tables waiting for the leader to call for prayers before they began eating. ‘We start out by the call for prayers, Azan, where men lead the prayers and women join in the back,’ said Zabie Mansoory, a former officer for the MSA and currently an advisor.

‘We hoped for more non-Muslims to show up’hellip;We have people who commuted all the way from Santa Barbara so we are glad to be heard that far,’ said Mavlan.

MSA meets every Wednesday from 5 to7 p.m. at the Reseda Room in the University Student Union. Students can come together to talk about issues, pray together or simply to just hang out.

‘(There is) a prayer room which we rent for the whole academic year where students can just walk in and take a break from the outside world or who just needs to pray and relax,’ said Mansoory.

For the remaining month of Ramadan, the MSA is hosting a barbeque evening every Wednesday and the invitation is open to all CSUN students.