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Students raise faith awareness, money for Syrian aid

The MSA Fast-A-ThonThe Muslim Students Organization hosted their largest fundraiser, the annual Fast-A-Thon, on Wednesday night at 5:30 in the Great Hall of the Student Union. The event began with a dinner for the participants, who had fasted all day. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to the Syrian Humanitarian Relief Fund.
The MSA Fast-A-ThonThe Muslim Students Organization hosted their largest fundraiser, the annual Fast-A-Thon, on Wednesday night at 5:30 in the Great Hall of the Student Union. The event began with a dinner for the participants, who had fasted all day. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to the Syrian Humanitarian Relief Fund.

Students of all faiths went a day without eating Wednesday in order to experience a sacred part of the Islamic faith.

The 10th annual Fast-A-Thon, sponsored by the UNC Muslim Students Association, consisted of an entire day of fasting, from sun up to sun down.

At 6:30 p.m., the participants gathered in the Great Hall to break their fast by sharing a meal together.

“We want to raise awareness of Islam and fasting and for everyone in the community to understand why we fast and for us to come together as one,” said Farhana Shemna, vice president of MSA.

Sarah Zamamiri, publicity chairwoman for the MSA, said the purpose of fasting in Islam is to overcome materialism and move closer to God.

Muslims are required to fast from sunup to sundown each day for about a month once a year for Ramadan, but they can choose to fast at other times, too.

“(Fasting) is a breaking of the routine and that’s where the spirituality comes in,” said Dr. Nouman Siddiqui, a member of the Islamic Center outreach committee and the guest speaker at the event.

“What you’re learning is mastery over the lowly world and allowing your connection with God to triumph.”

In addition to educating participants about Islamic traditions, Fast-A-Thon is also a charity event. Each year, the MSA chooses a charity to donate to based on the needs in the world.

“A lot of places in the world are suffering, and if we can help just one of them then we’re going to,” Shemna said.

This year the MSA will donate proceeds of the event to the Syrian Humanitarian Relief fund to benefit refugees.

Because the food for the dinner is donated, all the proceeds from ticket sales go to the cause. Tickets were $5 in advance and $7 at the door, and organizers sold about 240 tickets.

Freshman Farah Azam was interested in participating in the event not only because it is a part of her faith, but also because she thought it would be interesting to see what other people thought of her religion.

Freshman Anne Zhou said that even though she isn’t a Muslim, fasting made her appreciate the food in front of her, especially when there are people in places like Syria who may not know when their next meal is coming.

“I’m curious about the religion, and I wanted to learn how big of a deal Ramadan is,” she said. “I didn’t understand fasting until I did it.”

Sara Heikal, a student at Wake Forest University who attended the event, said she participated because she wanted to meet other Muslims and share the experience with people of other faiths as well.

“This is a really nice environment where we can fast and communicate with non-Muslims and Muslims alike,” she said.

“It’s great to see stereotypes broken down.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.

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