Food choices for Muslim students during Ramadan slim, but extant

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Muslim students on campus had a hard time finding food during Ramadan after breaking their fast for the night.

Some students who fasted during Ramadan encountered problems with campus dining during the holy month, which ended last week.

“During the time I lived in Calkins (Hall), the fast time was from about 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” said Egypt alumus Amr Shaheen. “The dining commons didn’t open until 7 a.m., so I couldn’t grab a bite to eat before then, which was understandable, but after I broke my fast I had problems getting the food to go, which meant I was paying for the food but not being able to eat it.”

Shaheen said the first couple days, he and his friend had to get delivery so they could eat.

“We had problems until we talked to Cathy (Warner), our RHD, and then she took charge and talked to someone in the dining commons,” Shaheen said.

Brenda Marquardt, director of residential dining, said in an email students not able to dine in the commons during regular hours can use the Meals2Go option or the FLEX portion of their meal plans to buy food from one of the after-hours markets.

Shaheen said they were able to get slips every day so they could check food out right before the residential restaurant closed.

“They kept telling us we had to put it in the fridge, and that we wouldn’t be liable if anything happened. They had a lot of rules about it,” Shaheen said.

Professor Hugh Talat Halman said it is difficult to practice Ramadan in a society that is not altogether pursuing the same objectives.

“Islam has the dimension of being a social system. It is challenging to practice Islam in a social system that isn’t designed to support Islamic practice,” Halman said.

Shaheen said the issue of university accommodations for Muslim students during Ramadan has been raised before in the Mount Pleasant Muslim community.

“In Egypt, it’s much easier to practice. Everything slows down. But we can’t expect the university to change their routine because of our holy month,” Shaheen said.

Marketing manager for CMU campus dining Nikki Smith said in an email the department was not aware of a place Muslim students can go to find out what the university is doing for them during Ramadan.

“One of the ladies that worked in the dining commons actually did know about Ramadan, and when I asked about food to go, she asked me if Ramadan was going on and she recommended that I go talk to my RHD and that she would help out,” Shaheen said. “She actually directed me on how to go through with that process. That was a plus point for them.”

Smith also said in the email Muslim students can check the ingredients of food items on the campus dining website to check if food items are free of pork.

“The main problem would be that we don’t want to eat pork, but if it’s introduced unintentionally, religious-wise, it’s not a problem. If I don’t know about it, then no harm done. Once I figure it out, then I can’t continue eating,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen said he was not as strict about not eating pork in America because of the abundance of it, but he had a friend that was. If his friend were to find pork in the Meals2Go, he would have to order delivery, which would take even more time after the fast had been broken and after not eating all day.

“With Cathy’s help, it was really hard, but the most we were able to do is get food to go from the dining commons, and we’re very thankful for that,” Shaheen said.