Navigating Faith, Food and Fatigue: Inside Muslim Student Life at UGA

Carrying lifestyle and religion so different from traditional American customs, Muslim Dawgs have created their own version of campus. Explore the hidden Islamic, Athens experience. 

Competing Cultures

College students across the nation typically have their go-to pizza shops, study spots and daily schedules. Muslim students are no exception to this, but their version of campus may look a lot different between daily prayers and dietary restrictions. At UGA, a predominantly white and Christian institution, students of the tight-knit Muslim community have forged their own definition of college life.

To many, Islam is all-encompassing and impacts all areas of their lives. For Alina Hashmi, a fourth-year computer science major, the gap between Muslim and non-Muslim students is noticeable. 

“In a way, American culture is very different to Islamic culture,” Hashmi said. “Just with our lifestyle, having to pray five times a day, even just how we live interest-wise. I think a lot of things in America are the complete opposite.”

Some of these five prayers fall during the school day, leaving Muslim students to search for private spaces between classes. For students like Iffah Saya, finding a spot for prayer or a break takes planning. 

“We have designated prayer areas, which is really nice,” said Iffah Saya, a fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology major. “Sometimes it gets kind of difficult because classes will overlap in a way that I don’t have time to pray.”

One of these designated areas is the Quiet Reflection Room in the Tate Student Center. This room was designed in 2010 for prayer and meditation at the request of the president of the Muslim Student Association at that time. For the roughly 700 Muslim students at UGA, this room offers an essential break for their day. 

“To pray, I would say Tate. They have like a little prayer room, like if I’m in between classes, if I’m on north campus — easy,” said Nyla Hussain, a third-year computer science major. “I typically just go to the Science Library, and I actually use one of the study carrels.”

Running on Faith and Fumes

In addition to the daily prayers, Muslim students must also abstain from alcohol, eat only “halal,” or permissible, foods and fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. This year, that holy lunar month began on Feb. 18 and ended March 19. During Ramadan, Muslim students may face even more complications to their daily schedule compared to their non-Muslim classmates. 

“I feel like on one hand, I’m more locked in, but on the other hand, you get so tired,” said Hussain about fasting. “Some days it’s a little tough, just because I’m so tired.”

Hashmi echoed Hussain’s experience with fasting during school. 

“Especially last year, I was so tired; I would fall asleep during classes because I had, like, 8 a.m.s. It was hard especially with that, because I would end up prioritizing sleep over food, so I would just skip suhoor, which is what we eat before the sun rises,” she said.

The window to eat before sunrise ends at roughly 6 a.m., and nightly prayers can last until 10 p.m. or later. For many, this means long days, with no food or drink and little sleep.

The Classic College Life

When the fasting period is over, many Muslims come together to feast for the night. However, this can be difficult with limited halal food options. Halal means “permissible” in Arabic and refers to anything that Muslims are permitted to do or consume. Anything unpermitted is haram, including pork, gelatin, alcohol, drugs and meat slaughtered outside of Islamic guidelines. While Walmart Supercenters in Athens sell halal meats, they can be anywhere from 42% to 85% more expensive than their non-halal counterparts. For example, Crescent Foods frozen halal ground beef sells for nearly $10 per pound, while Marketside Organic sells non-halal beef for just $7.50 per pound.

As an alternative to cooking expensive meats, some flocked to the local halal restaurant, Athens Pizza, which closed in the last month. Conveniently situated across the street from the local mosque, it used to offer a typical menu of pizza, chicken wings and calzones, but entirely Islamically approved. 

“I am loyal to Athens Pizza. It is up on Milledge, it is the best, like, soul food, pizza place that I’ve ever been to,” said Saya, before the eatery closed. 

Though the town still offers other restaurants with halal options, many say they will miss this community staple. 

“I really do enjoy Athens Pizza … I think when that closed, that was really hard,” Hashmi said, mourning her go-to eatery. 

Learning about the Muslim community at UGA, as Saya encourages, may give other students the opportunity to explore more of campus and find new culinary favorites. Despite how “opposite” American and Islamic culture are, according to Hashmi, it seems like college students across the board will always have two things in common: sleep deprivation and a love of pizza. 

Natalie Bardy is a journalism major in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.