NUS students from various racial, religious and national backgrounds came together Sept. 4 to celebrate the daily breaking of fast during the Muslim month of Ramadhan.

The iftar, or mass breaking of fast, is organized on campus annually by the NUS Muslim Society. This year it was held at Prince George's Park.

Sufina Adam, head of programmes for the organising committee of the Society, said a slightly different outreach approach was taken for this year’s iftar, which was called “Iftar1101E: Intro to fasting.”

“Usually, everyone is welcome but invitations are spread through word of mouth. This year, there was an official invitation handed out to both Muslim and non-Muslim students, at the local and the international level,” said Adam.

Publicity was carried out through Facebook, posters and fliers. The posters were mainly targeted at Muslims and were hung at various prayer sites in NUS, while the fliers were distributed mostly to non-Muslim students.

With about 300 students and staff showing up for the event, the turnout well surpassed the 200 people that the Society had expected. Many of them were from different faiths and backgrounds.

Rudy Hendra Saleh, a second-year student from the Faculty of Engineering, commended the Society for opening  the iftar.

“Students should use every opportunity to get to know different people of different faiths,” said Saleh.

Among the non-Muslims who turned up, there were some who had also been fasting that day.

Dipti Cheerath, a fourth-year student from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, said it was her first time fasting.

“I think that instead of asking Muslims why they fast, you should fast and see for yourself,” Cheerath said.

Gabriel Fu, also a fourth-year student from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, said he started fasting “the Muslim way” on Aug. 31.

“It was difficult for me to see other people eating,” Fu said. “I had to stay away from the canteen, and sit in the library, where it’s cold.”

Despite the challenges he faced while fasting, Fu said, he felt a “great sense of satisfaction.”

A Catholic, Fu said that he had fasted in the past and that through fasting and breaking his fast with Muslims, he had “learnt a lot about the similarities Catholics and Muslims have during fasting and Lent.” In Christian tradition, Lent is a period of fasting in the lead up to Easter.

Lehlya Heward, an exchange student from Arizona currently studying in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, agreed with Fu.

 “There are quite a few parallels between Islam and Christianity, and it’s better to experience it first-hand rather than just reading about it,” said Heward.

Saleh applauded the non-Muslims who took up the challenge of fasting. “The fact that they (non-Muslims) actually fasted and managed to fast the whole day is excellent,” he said.

Besides non-Muslims from NUS, there were also Muslim students from other institutions at the ceremony.

Iffah Ali, a final-year student from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), attended the iftar after hearing about it through the NTU Muslim Society. Despite being familiar with mass iftar sessions, Ali said, she was “surprised to see such a big scale and inclusive iftar.”

The food at the iftar was jointly contributed by the families of Society members  and Muslim catering services.

“Ramadhan is a time where most Muslims try to provide as much alms as possible, so the Muslim catering services which we approached were happy to sponsor the food,” said Adam.