As Renton High School seniors walked across the graduation stage on Wednesday, fellow graduate Sawda Mohamed stayed home with her family.
The 18-year-old had purchased her cap and gown, but earlier in the school year decided to skip the ceremony. Despite her mother’s protest, Mohamed described her choice as a fitting end to years of frustration she experienced in a school system she felt had little respect for her Muslim faith.
“Honestly, because everything I’ve dealt with in the past, just let it be,” Mohamed said earlier this week. “I bought the cap and gown for memories of the hard work and everything I accomplished, but it’s just not worth it at this point.”
This year, the most stressful time of the school year coincided with the holiest time for Mohamed: Ramadan, when Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset for a month in order to focus on spiritual growth, family and charity.
Ramadan in school & Population of Muslims
Ramadan presents a challenge not only for the fasting students, but for the schools trying to make adjustments for them.
“We’re not asking schools to move their graduations to July. That would be ridiculous,” said Regina Elmi, a Renton mother and co-founder of the recently launched Somali Parents Education Board. “We’d just like to see some steps to let our community know that they’re really trying to figure this out.”
According to the Muslim Association of Puget Sound & Muslim population, Friday is the start of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The month moves back on the Gregorian calendar about 10 days every year because the Islamic lunar year is that much shorter, meaning Muslims in the Puget Sound region typically fast for 18 hours per day when it falls over the summer months. For students, it’s a constant balancing act between school and a fundamental part of their faith.
In Tukwila, where about a third of students identify as Muslim, the school district has made changes. Foster High School, which had traditionally spread graduation rehearsal and other end-of-the-year activities across three days, this year packed all events into a single day. New Principal Meg McGroarty said she made the decision to allow her Muslim students to celebrate Eid al-Fitr at home with their families this weekend.
“I’m still learning about Ramadan,” McGroarty said. “It’s just part of what you do to understand and respect the culture of your school.”
Wiqaa Al Jubeer, a 17-year-old Foster student whose family emigrated from Iraq to Tukwila last year, says her school’s policies have always made her feel welcome.
“A lot of people told us not to move here, that we’d be harassed, that I’d be forced to take off my (head) scarf. When we arrived, it was so surprising,” she said. “Everyone is so kind and respectful. I never expected to feel so appreciated or for anyone to care about what I needed.”
Franklin High School in Seattle rescheduled its prom and senior breakfast to avoid disrupting Ramadan. The school last year also interrupted its late-night graduation ceremony and provided loaves of bread for graduates to break their
Other schools have added Eid and other religious holidays such as Rosh Hashana to their calendars, a cue to teachers to implement lighter lesson plans on those days as they acknowledge the growth of Muslim population.
It is at an amazing rate how much now people know about Islam and through knowledge alone the growth of countless religious events and Muslim Population growth is also noted.
