Beyond the crescent: exploring Ramadan at the Warwick Islamic Society

The sighting of the crescent moon on February 28 this year indicated the beginning of the month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. For over 2 billion Muslims around the world, this is a month of fasting from sunrise to sundown. It is a challenge for many, especially the exec team at the Warwick Islamic Society who are given the hefty task of feeding five hundred people a night, every night, for 30 days.

Ramadan is very expensive as you can imagine. We’ve shown on our Instagram it’s £1,500 a night. And that’s feeding 500 people, so to do this, it costs between £40,000 to £45,000 a year for the whole of Ramadan

– Uzair, ISOC Treasurer

“Around December, November time, that’s when the SU packs are submitted,” explains Yahia Zayed, the current ISOC President. This planning begins nearly half a year before Ramadan actually arrives, with many unaware of the extensive preparation behind the scenes. “We also had to start looking for overflow rooms, so I started to book overflow rooms in December. We actually have an internal diary which lays out how many weeks out from Ramadan we need to start doing things – cash and carry orders, talking to caterers, and trying to reach out and negotiate prices,” Yahia adds.

The scale of the operation is staggering. According to Uzair, the ISOC Treasurer, “Ramadan is very expensive as you can imagine. We’ve shown on our Instagram it’s £1,500 a night. And that’s feeding 500 people, so to do this, it costs between £40,000 to £45,000 a year for the whole of Ramadan.”

I asked where this funding came from? “We have our Jummah collections, which are our Friday prayers. We collect every week and these make up the bulk of our donations,” explains Uzair. “A lot of people donate in cash and a lot of other people decide to donate via a ticketing page. We have an SU account for example, or sometimes people just come up to us and say, ‘Yeah, we want to sponsor a whole night ourselves.’”

The daily operation of iftar (the fast-breaking meal) requires perfect timing and coordination. Yahia breaks down the process: “The first thing that’s very important is the caterer bringing the food, which can sometimes be delayed and that really throws a spanner in the works. But normally they come around 4:30pm.”

Yahia adds, “Then we load and divide the portions. So the girls have a trolley (ISOC is gender segregated) – we load that up and take some portions to the other rooms, along with dates, water, and cutlery. All these things need to be considered – cleaning supplies, bin bags, etc.

“Then we also prepare tables, pre-fill cups of water, and put out dates so people can break their fast. We put bin bags around PH. Then we do the prayer and make several announcements trying to control the crowd, getting people to move to the front, keep their cups, throw away their seeds which you’ll find in all sorts of places in the prayer hall.”

The organisation continues after iftar with preparations for taraweeh (special Ramadan night prayers), followed by cleanup operations.

I feel like it really teaches you discipline, you know, and it helps you create habits that you would hopefully take out of Ramadan. It’s not just like a month where you’re religious and then afterwards you’re done. Ideally, we try our best to create new habits and keep them

– Rayaan, ISOC Welfare Officer

While many non-Muslims may associate Ramadan primarily with fasting, both the ISOC President and Welfare Officer emphasise that there’s much more to this holy month.

“I’d say that fasting is one element of it,” Yahia explains. “It’s often the one that’s most associated with Ramadan, as expected, but it’s a time when we try to go closer to God through various acts of worship, whether that be reading the Quran, extra prayers, or Taraweeh.”

Rayaan, the First-Year Welfare Officer, adds: “The first thing I’d say is Ramadan is generally a blessing. It’s a massive blessing. You know, there’s nothing like being able to get closer to your maker.”

He continues, “I feel like it really teaches you discipline, you know, and it helps you create habits that you would hopefully take out of Ramadan. It’s not just like a month where you’re religious and then afterwards you’re done. Ideally, we try our best to create new habits and keep them.”

Ramadan is a time of reflection and to develop spiritually, socially, and emotionally.

One of the most important elements of Ramadan at the University of Warwick is students and the local community coming together. While most university Islamic societies cater primarily to students, Warwick ISOC has developed strong ties with the Coventry Muslim community.

“The elders in the local community in Coventry are an integral part of our community support in many ways,” notes Yahia. “For example, some will offer to lead Taraweeh and have organised that. Some will financially support us and donate generously – they’re probably among our most generous donors.”

The elders foster a dynamic that is different to a typical mosque. As Yahia points out, “They bring a kind of vibe and atmosphere, and because these faces are the most familiar constant faces. They’re always here whereas we as students come and go. I’ll be gone in a couple of years, we’ll all be gone. But they’ll be here. They are the consistency and the consistent element of the community.”

Uzair highlights the value of longevity brought by elder participation. “They saw the transformation from a single row to overflow rooms.” For students experiencing Ramadan away from home for the first time, this intergenerational connection provides familiarity and comfort. Rayaan, experiencing his first Ramadan away from home, shares that he feels “there’s also more of a community in the sense that people encourage each other more to like, come to the mosque, come break fast, come get your free food. You know, that kind of stuff. It’s a nice community.”

For Muslim students, Ramadan can create what Rayaan describes as a “bubble within a bubble”. ISOC acts as a supportive community throughout the year and during Ramadan, this feeling of a ‘separate identity’ becomes more apparent.

“Once you’re really deeply involved in ISOC work, it’s almost like a bubble where you’re separated from all the other kinds of things,” Rayaan explains. ISOC’s environment offers security which helps students navigate the temptations and challenges of university life, especially during a month dedicated to spirituality.

This separation, however, doesn’t mean isolation from the broader university experience. The ISOC actively works to make their community accessible and inviting, particularly during Ramadan. “A key goal during Ramadan would be to try and throw people into the community. Help them realise that it’s a nice place,” says Rayaan. “I know a lot of people might sometimes think that it’s too religious for them. But it’s nice to be able to come here and just see people doing work, talking, and chilling.”

Impressively, the mosque is run almost entirely by students, very non-typical of a traditional mosque.

Balancing academic commitments with religious leadership roles requires careful time management

The organisation relies on clear leadership and delegation. “I actually feel bad for our President and Vice President because they do most of the work, and then through having clear delegation, it makes everyone’s life easier,” says Rayaan. “Alhamdulillah (‘All praise to God’), every day when you have Yahia (ISOC President) and Umair (ISOC Vice President) sending out the message with everyone assigned specific roles, I think that really helps.”

Yahia explained how he shares responsibilities with his Vice President: “Both roles are quite similar in the sense that you’re responsible for running things. Both run iftars – some days I run it, sometimes my vice president does.”

This level of responsibility creates challenges as well as opportunities for personal growth. Balancing academics alongside religious leadership roles requires careful time management. “It’s not easy – it’s very difficult and challenging. There definitely is impact on my studies and I’m sure the same can be said for all of the exec,” admits Yahia.

The central practical element of iftar is, of course, food. The ISOC works with multiple caterers to provide hearty, filling meals whilst working with a tight budget.

“This year, actually we’ve got two more caterers. Last year we only had two main caterers, and now we’ve got four,” shared Uzair. “Generally we have a lot of stuff like biryani, pulao for example. A lot of rice-based dishes with curry or just sort of biryani. Sometimes we’ll have pasta or noodles. We try to keep it fulfilling foods, but also foods that aren’t too messy.”

Uzair then discussed the challenges that managing food quantities can present: “Getting the numbers right every day is practically impossible. We don’t know how many people are going to come every day.” The team freely distributes excess food after prayers for students to take home, and on the rare occasions that they run short, they prioritise feeding attendees and risk going without themselves.

I think it’s remembering your intentions and why you’re actually doing this. I think of this as helping people. And I remember I’m doing it to help people. I’m doing it for the purpose of pleasing my Lord

– Uzair, ISOC Treasurer

For the ISOC exec members, organising Ramadan brings personal challenges but can also be incredibly rewarding. Yahia reflects on a conversation with his Vice President: “I said Wednesday’s iftar would be my last day before I go home. Then he said, ‘Oh, the end of an era,’ and I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ Then he said, ‘It’ll be your last iftar,’ and then it hit me that this is a massive opportunity for good that Allah has blessed us with.”

This sentiment of gratitude despite the exhaustion is echoed by Uzair when asked how he stays motivated: “I think it’s remembering your intentions and why you’re actually doing this. I think of this as helping people. And I remember I’m doing it to help people. I’m doing it for the purpose of pleasing my Lord.”

The exec team also balances service with self-care. As Rayaan points out, “I think it’s super important for the exec members to know when to switch off. I feel like it’s easy to fall into the habit of every day, even if you’re not volunteering, just going and hoping to help. But I think it’s really important to know some days you need to switch off.”

While the challenge of running an operation on this scale clearly takes time and perseverance, to do so while fasting as well as balancing university work definitely requires immeasurable patience

As the exec looks toward the end of their run, there’s a focus on sustainability and training the next generation. Yahia mentions, “I actually really enjoyed when we started giving freshers the lead on iftars and watching them run it quite well. Obviously, you can nitpick, but watching it run quite well and thinking that it’s in safe hands now means that I can relax and not worry about it.”

This approach ensures that the traditions of Ramadan at Warwick continue even as individual students move on. The annual cycle of preparing new leaders, fundraising, and improving efficiency demonstrates a unique maturity for organisation in a student society.

While the challenge of running an operation on this scale clearly takes time and perseverance, to do so while fasting as well as balancing university work definitely requires immeasurable patience. The question that springs to mind would definitely be how do they do it? The answer to that came in the form of a Quran verse recited on the third night of Taraweeh; “Oh you who have believed Seek comfort in patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is truly with the patient’’: Quran 2:153.