The Muslim Student Association (MSA) at San Jose State hosted a variety of social, religious and humanitarian events for Muslim students to come together and celebrate Eid.
Those of the Islamic faith recently observed the holy month of Ramadan on March 22 until Eid on April 20, when the month of fasting ended.
During Ramadan, able-bodied Muslims avoid consuming food and beverages, including water, from dawn to sunset every day of the month and do additional worship, according to a March 2023 PBS article.
Many Muslims read from the Quran, the central religious text of revelations from God to the Prophet Muhammad.
The text says fasting can help believers grow closer to God, according to the same PBS article.
Mehmood Rahmatullah, applied and computational mathematics senior, serves as the president of MSA. He said his current role in the religious organization has allowed him to meet other Muslim students on campus.
“We all share the same experiences,” Rahmatullah said. “We share the same struggles, we share a lot of issues and passions and to be able to meet people who have the same family background, have the same religious background and be able to connect with them…it just provides a sense of community.”
Rahmatullah said MSA had at least 100 students show up to its events during Ramadan. He said for that reason, SJSU should have catered better to its Muslim students during Ramadan.
“We need a free space that we have unlimited access to and by the campus not providing it for us, they are denying us a very basic right that we have as a religion on campus,” he said.
The only designated praying space Muslim students currently have access to on campus is a small room located in the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center, which has one prayer mat and can only be used by five to seven students at a time.
Muslims also partake in five daily prayers that last until the evening, but the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center closes at 6 p.m. during weekday hours, according to its webpage.
According to a recent MSA survey on the existing prayer room, 88% of the 201 students who responded said they have had to wait to use the space before.
Zaid Yousef, business analytics senior and events director of MSA, said there are a lot of shortcomings from an administration perspective in regards to accommodating Muslim students’ needs on campus.
“The administration, this past year, has been truly abysmal in responding to Muslim concerns,” Yousef said. “The top of that is having a Muslim prayer space or prayer space in general, whether it be interfaith or be a meditation space.”
Interim deputy diversity officer Patience Bryant sent a mass email to the SJSU community on March 13 and included Ramadan as an observed religious holiday .
“For Muslims, Ramadan will begin the evening of March 22 and conclude the evening of April 21 and the observance of Eid al-Fitr on April 22,” Bryant said in the email. “Many Muslims in our community will be fasting during this time and changes in sleeping, eating and physical activity levels may be affected.”
Bryant embedded the University Policy S14-7, Accommodation to Students’ Religious Holidays, for students and faculty to refer to in the same email.
Students are allowed to miss graded classwork or activities when observing a religious holiday, according to University Policy.
Yousef said members of MSA reached out to administration to ask for more than one day off, but said they were shrugged off.
“That wasn’t really applicable for Muslims who are observing the entire month of special dedication,” he said.
Junior biomedical engineering Aasiya Jabbar said while SJSU allowed Muslim students to be absent from classes during Ramadan, many had issues leaving school that Thursday for Eid since it’s the last day of the month-long holiday.
“I think having a day or two off during Ramadan would be nice, but I think having the day off for Eid would be most ideal,” Jabbar said.
