Before coming to Georgetown, Kelly O’Donnell (COL’08), Christine Hluchan (COL’08) and Dan Feehan (SFS ’05) had never celebrated Ramadan.

Unlike many of the other students who gathered in Copley Formal Lounge last Tuesday night to observe Eid al-Fitr, a banquet of feasting and spiritual reflection held to mark the end of the uslim holy month, O’Donnell and Hluchan were unfamiliar with the traditions of fasting and spiritual atonement that characterize the holy month.

O’Donnell said that it was not until she met Pakistani students living on her floor this year that she began to attend the Ramadan events held by the Muslim Students Association and learned first-hand about the cultural traditions of a religion that is practiced by over one billion people worldwide.

O’Donnell and Hluchan joined many other non-Muslims at the Eid al-Fitr celebration, which drew a diverse attendance from across the Georgetown community.

Student performers played Arabic music on the guitar and members of the Muslim community offered reflections on their spiritual growth during Ramadan. Guests, some of whom were dressed in elaborate traditionally-embroidered linens, enjoyed a lavish banquet of Middle Eastern food.

Multiple speakers addressed the diverse crowd of over 150 as “brothers and sisters,” a term that highlighted the inclusiveness felt by many that evening.

“I was expecting to see the same sense of faith and community and togetherness that I would see anywhere else on campus, and that is what I saw,” Feehan said.

John Santore (COL ’05), a friend of Feehan who is also non-Muslim, said that he has come to many MSA events. He described them as open and inviting.

“They really want to bring people together to facilitate understanding and knowledge,” he said.

MSA Public Relations Coordinator Dania Ayoubi (COL ’07) said that the MSA has made efforts to plan inclusive activities and incorporate both Muslim and non-Muslim members of the Georgetown community.

“I think it’s great how we can reach out to the uslim and non-Muslim community,” Ayoubi said.

Most of the events hosted by MSA, he added, are open to the entire Georgetown community, not simply Muslim students or MSA members.

During Ramadan this year, some of these events have included special iftars, or meals eaten at sunset to break the daily fast, with students from other religious communities.

According to Yahya Hendi, a Muslim Imam at Georgetown, special iftars were held with Jewish, Mormon and Christian students this year. They were all well-attended by students of each faith.

Other events hosted by MSA this Ramadan included a fast-a-thon, in which students pledged to fast for a day. For each student who signed up to fast, money was donated to local charities.

In a reflection during the Eid banquet, MSA member Sofia Khilji (SFS ’05) talked about the sense of community she felt as a uslim at Georgetown. She described the lack of spirituality she had felt in Egypt during her recent study abroad experience, and said that for her, the Muslim community at Georgetown is home.

“You are in a Muslim country and you could live completely without spirituality,” Khilji said. “To me, nothing is as [much like] home as the musullah [Muslim prayer room] in Copley.”

Rehenuma Asmi (COL ’03), an alumnus who remains connected with the Muslim community at Georgetown, agreed.

“It’s so nice to . at least know that there’s a source of community and family at Georgetown,” she said.

Sadaf Jaffer (SFS ’05), an MSA member who assisted with the planning of the Eid event, said that attendance at many of the SA events has been diverse.

“I think that’s just a quality of Georgetown – it’s definitely a place where people respect spirituality,” she said.

The sense of togetherness between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities may appear in sharp contrast to recent headlines and theological debates suggesting a “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West following Sept. 11, 2001.

Yet Osama Bin Laden and his ideological declarations do not represent any tenet of Islam, Asmi assured.

“They are using religious talk to promote their political agenda,” she said. She described the recent violence linked with fundamental Islam as “a big spin-off of political and social injustice” and said that terror groups such as al-Qaeda use Islam as a “medium.”

Hendi said that despite the current extremist factions of Islam, he was confident that the moderate side of Islam would prevail.

“I see that like I see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

Hluchan concurred. “The media makes [Islam] all look bad but I don’t think it’s like that at all in real life,” she said.

Hluchan, O’Donnell and Feehan said that although they did not have any misperceptions about Islam beforehand, they felt that they learned and gained a lot by coming to MSA events.

“I’m from the Midwest and we don’t really have a lot of diversity,” O’Donnell said.

She added that while her friends from home initially thought her cross-cultural interactions at Georgetown were “weird,” they now share her praise for her experiences with diversity.

“I just love having any exposure I can to different cultures,” Santore added.

Ayoubi said that the MSA plans to host more educational and cultural events throughout the year.

“We can only plant seeds and hope that they will be fruitful,” Ayoubi said.