Here are some ways you can balance fasting with the stress of final exams
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and for Muslims across the world, this is one of the most important times of the year. During this month, the Muslim community engages in praying, fasting and becoming closer to their faith in general.
This year, similar to last year, Ramadan happens to fall in the month of April. For university students, April is the exam season. So, for the large Muslim community at McMaster University, finding peace while fasting and juggling the stress of exams can become very difficult. Here are some ways to observe an enjoyable and fulfilling Ramadan while succeeding in final exams.
The first is to remember you are not alone. At McMaster, there are several clubs targeted for the Muslim community. For example, the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) dedicates their time to bringing their community closer together and closer to their faith. Joining clubs like these or attending events, like Iftar socials, will help you befriend individuals who are of similar cultures to you and uphold the same morals and beliefs as you. Knowing there are people experiencing similar challenges to you can be motivating.
Organizations like the MSA also frequently have Iftar socials during Ramadan. Iftar is the meal that is eaten upon breaking one’s fast. This can be good way to take a break from studying for an exam and mingle amongst students.
Organizations like the MSA also frequently have Iftar socials during Ramadan. Iftar is the meal that is eaten upon breaking one’s fast. This can be good way to take a break from studying for an exam and mingle amongst students.
You should also be wary of what you eat. I find I unintentionally skip meals during the exam season as my mind tries to juggle and keep track of every task I need to get done. Eating healthy foods in moderate amounts during Ramadan is important as whatever meal you have will be your fuel for the day.
Many students find it difficult to get into a productive routine as the piles of work they have become overwhelming. For those observing Ramadan, you can overcome this by taking advantage of the meal timings already set for you.
After having suhoor, or the pre-dawn meal which ends at dawn, you can begin studying for the day. You will feel less tired, as you have already been awake for some time and energized from the meal. As the day progresses, center your breaks closer to prayer times to not only avoid a burnout but also to take time to truly reflect and practice what Ramadan is all about, peace and tranquility.
By the time Iftar rolls around, as the sun sets, you will have completed plenty of revision. Feeling satisfied with your productivity for the day, it is now time to break your fast and kick back for the rest of the night. Do not feel guilty for taking the rest of the night to yourself and even going to sleep early.
It can get difficult trying to attend equally to school, your faith and yourself. The most important advice is to not let it overwhelm you. Taking everything step by step at a slow and steady pace will help keep you calm and give your best efforts to whatever task you are trying to complete. This way, the peace that comes with Ramadan is not suppressed by your stress over school.
Salma Hindy likes to think that she was at her peak creativity and performance level while making her childhood friends laugh. Lunch times at the Islamic elementary and secondary schools she attended turned into a comedy sketch hour filled with extravagant storytelling and ridiculous imitations of her teachers and friends.
The up-and-coming comedian recently returned from the 12 city Super Muslim Comedy Tour in the United Kingdom, and finished in second place in the Toronto Comedy Brawl competition against over 400 comedians. Hindy also spent her autumn performing at comedy festivals in Boston, Dallas, Chicago and New York.
As Hindy prepares to open for American comedian and actor Ken Jeong on Jan. 11 for the Life After Mac performance on campus, it’s fair to say storytelling and making people laugh have followed her into adulthood.
Growing up in a conservative Muslim household meant that her parents have a rigid understanding of what comedy and performance is, which made it difficult for them to understand what their daughter wanted to pursue.
While their ideas of comedy were often tainted with negative connotations and misconceptions, Hindy wanted to show her family and Muslim community that clean comedy can be approached in a way that is mindful of the values and boundaries she has set for herself. Her career, identity and spirituality are part of her own personal journey and comedy just so happens to play an important part as well.
Despite her parents’ reluctance to attend her shows, Hindy’s mother found herself attending an event her daughter just so happened to be performing at for International Women’s Day this past March. It may have been seeing her daughter perform stand-up for the first time, the fact that Hindy removed all her parent jokes from her set, or the constant boasting on part of her mother’s friends, but the laughter seemed to ease her concerns.
The comedy industry was in for a shock too. Most audiences aren’t used to seeing a visibly Muslim woman take center stage at a comedy bar. Hindy will skip out on free drink tickets and get ecstatic at the availability of halal food at her events, but the industry is ready to embrace her and the diversity she brings.
“I fit in pretty well as someone who doesn't fit in, if that makes any sense. They want to see people with different identities… different stories and different perspectives. Somebody who can teach them something that they didn't know before while obviously still being entertaining and funny,” explained Hindy.
While Hindy’s faith and stereotypes around her identity do seep into her act, she isn’t explicitly written for a Muslim audience. Her witty remarks and hilarious stories about her life, which are all based on true events, humanize her as a Muslim Canadian; an identity that is often informed by the media rather than real life interactions.
Comedy became a breakthrough for fostering understanding. From jokes about struggling to have a crush reciprocate feelings to witnessing anti-Muslim protestors outside of a mosque and thinking ‘wow, these people go to the mosque more than me, like damn I wish I had your consistency’, Hindy utilizes storytelling to reach out to her audience and build a relationship.
“[I]t doesn't even necessarily have to be specifically or explicitly about Muslim issues or Muslim struggles, obviously those are really enlightening and they're great informational pieces for the audience, but even just you ranting about the same thing that somebody else would rant about which is just very mundane, just shows how relatable you are and how much of a connection that we all have,” explained Hindy.
Hindy completed her bachelor of engineering at McMaster and a masters in clinical engineering at the University of Toronto. She recently started her first full time job as a biomedical research engineer at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health so it’s only a matter of time before this milestone in her life inspires the newest additions to her comedy set.
In conversation, Hindy can’t help crack a joke or two — or every five minutes— often followed by a ‘you know what I’m saying?’ and her contagious laughter. Comedy is her superpower, she uses it to spread awareness, break down stereotypes and share herself unapologetically with the world.
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