The fluorescent lights shone above the common room as the microwave hummed, warming the dining hall provided suhoor — the meal eaten before dawn when fasting. Students sat in silence, adjusting to their surroundings, as they waited their turn to heat up their food.
At 4 a.m. in Prince Frederick Hall, Habib Camara, a sophomore psychology and pre-med student, went up to the third floor to join some of the other Muslims in the Design Cultures & Creativity (DCC) honors living-learning program for suhoor. Despite the distance from their family, the students found a way to form a new community.
“Being able to wake up and go to the lounge and have people there to eat with felt like having a second family in my building,” said Camara. “There’s a community living on campus, you can find something for any of the interests you have, and there’s a big tight knit Muslim community.”
Camara was usually the only one in his family who would wake up to eat suhoor. Now, from living on campus, he found a group of people to eat with.
While finding community on campus can be challenging at first, according to Camara, finding like-minded individuals at UMD is helpful.
Yasmin Aouchria, a sophomore psychology major, said living on campus provides convenience that benefits her in her studies. She has been living in Cecil Hall, the only all-female residence hall on campus, since her freshman year.
“As a hijabi, it meant a lot [to live in an all-female residence hall], because I don’t feel obligated to wear my hijab when I go to the bathroom or fill up my water,” she said.
According to both Aouchria and Camara, living on campus as a Muslim can pose some challenges in terms of fitting in. However, meeting people going through similar experiences can be helpful.
Ehesane Nida, a junior information systems major, is a Resident Assistant (RA) at UMD, working and living at South Campus Commons.
However, Nida was already supporting other students transition into college life before she became an RA.
Like Camara, Nida was in the DCC honors program at Prince Frederick Hall for her first two years of college. She recalls being the only hijabi in Prince Frederick Hall during her freshman year and was “heart-warmed” that in her last year they were having group suhoors in the common room. In her sophomore year, Nida took it upon herself to support other Muslim girls in Prince Frederick Hall.
“I would take their concerns as my own, because I [saw] myself in them. I’m like, ‘No, you can stand up for yourself, you’re in a new environment,’ and maybe it’s not as comfortable but you can make your environment comfortable,” Nida said.
Aouchria had a Muslim roommate–but not all Muslims on-campus do. Both Camara and Nida had non-Muslim roommates who they were randomly assigned to in their first year—and both chose to dorm with the same roommate in the following year.
“One thing I had to learn to get over was praying in front of non-Muslims. I love my roommate, but that was just an experience that I just never really had prior,” said Camara.
Nida also shared her experience, saying, “I wish I could take credit and say that I selected my roommate. That’s how much I love her. Even though she’s not Muslim—you don’t have to have the same background as someone to be understanding and supportive.”
For Camara, Aouchria and Nida living on campus was more than just convenient; it was a chance to find their community and grow in their faith.
“Just like reverts, I feel like those who are born into Islam have the same reversion,” said Nida. “And I feel like for me, it was those first two years, and being on campus that played a huge role in that.”
Image credits: Cover photo by Safiyah Fatima for Al-Hikmah.
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misstated Yasmin Aouchria’s major. Aouchria’s major is psychology.
Al-Hikmah 
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