During the final weekend in March, the Islamic holiday Eid Al-Fitr was being celebrated worldwide. This holiday marks the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
For Eid Al-Fitr, Muslims gather to pray in congregation in the early morning and generally have family and community gatherings, as well as feasts and holiday sweets, for the rest of the day.
The following week after Eid Al-Fitr, PSU’s MENASA (Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian) Student Center and PAC (Pan-African Commons) collaborated with the student groups MSA (Muslim Student Association) and ASA (Arab Student Association) on a joint event. With the title Eid Brunch, the hosts featured a traditional Middle Eastern breakfast spread, Dubai chocolate strawberries, henna and coffee from Above GRND Coffee—a newly opened Somali owned Cafe and workspace on Broadway.
This event began at 1 p.m. and ran until the early evening, bringing together various community members from all over Portland.
Umniyah Shakir, a Freshman at Ida B. Wells High School, was in attendance at the Eid Brunch with family members.
“My aunt goes to PSU, so I came with her,” Shakir said. “The event was good, it makes everybody feel welcome and it really brings out the culture.”
Shakir later got her henna done in MENASA before leaving the event.
Many different activities were laid out, which drew in communities of all ages from different schools that brought significant attention to PSU to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr.
Ali Baki, an Iraqi Student and Member of the ASA, chatted about his attendance at the celebration.
“I’m a part of ASA—but it’s also an Eid event, and I’m Muslim, so I partake in the holiday,” said Baki. “Eid Al-Fitr brings together all the Muslims around the world, there’s many cultures so it brings us all together in a room to share moments in food.”
In the back tables of PAC, there was a spread of Ful—beans served with olive oil, cumin, chopped parsley, garlic, onion, etc.—hummus, pita bread, Arabic coffee and tea, and manakeesh—a popular Levantine food that consists of dough topped with za’atar, cheese or ground meat.
“I came with a friend because I heard they have an event, and I think a lot of schools don’t have events like this so it’s so interesting to see that PSU celebrated,” said Nasrin Ali, a Somali Student at PSU.
Ali’s thoughts highlight the welcoming atmosphere this Eid event has fostered and how unifying celebrating as a community is for PSU’s environment. It allows the University to set itself apart by valuing cultural expression and encouraging inclusivity.
Omar Faroukh, a Palestinian Student at PSU, shared how this event highlighted solidarity through community gatherings.
“I heard about the Eid event with some of my friends that are a part of ASA and MSA, and then I just pulled up for Eid to celebrate,” said Faroukh. “The event was pretty cool, it was nice [to see] the community together and kind of just hang out and celebrate Eid together.”
According to Faroukh, events like this help educate students who may not be familiar with the holiday about Eid Al-Fitr.
Portland State’s Muslim community is known to celebrate both Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha during the academic year and post flyers in preparation on the MSA, ASA and MENASA social media pages.
“A lot of non-Muslims ask about it and about what’s going on, and it’s cool to educate people on the religion and what is going on and how different cultures within Islam come together to celebrate,” said Faroukh.
