The scent of steaming chicken and rice filled the air Thursday night as about 200 people gathered in the O'Connell Center for Iftar, a nightly meal to break fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
During Ramadan, which will last through the end of September this year, Muslims don't eat or drink from sunrise to sunset.
Jonathan Bull, vice president of external affairs for Islam on Campus, said dinner is served every night of Ramadan at mosques in Gainesville to provide food for the local fasting community.
Different people sponsor and fund these meals each night, Bull said.
This year, the Pakistani Students' Association and Islam on Campus teamed up to host the Iftar at UF, which was the groups' way of doing what the mosques do on a nightly basis, Bull said.
"When you feed someone who's been fasting, the reward is great," he said.
The event opened at 7:30 p.m. with prayer on the main floor of the O'Connell Center. After about 10 minutes of prayer, people filed into the martial arts room for a buffet catered by Chutnees.
As students dug into chicken, yellow rice, flatbread and cake, they listened to a speech by Mohammed Mubarak, a UF law student.
Mubarak spoke of a need for Muslim reflection and self-analysis during Ramadan and encouraged the crowd to think of the current state of countries with high Muslim populations.
"If we do this, we find little reason for celebration," he said.
Muslims are going through difficult and dangerous times due to war and lack of a uniting leader, Mubarak said.
He read passages from the Quran and encouraged the crowd to redirect their energy toward God.
"We must remove pollution and dirt from our hearts and renew our faith," Mubarak said.
The last 10 days of Ramadan are the "the best of the best" because it is a time when all sins can be forgiven, he said.
Salman Bukhari, a UF graduate student, spoke about the importance of looking past cultural differences of Muslims growing up in different countries and to focus on the religion they share.
"Just like Muslims everywhere, Pakistanis celebrate this holy month with religious fervor," Bukhari said.
Gohar Majeed, president of the Pakistani Students' Association, said student organizations such as the Indian Student Association, Bangladeshi Student Association, Student Government and Volunteers for International Student Affairs were invited to attend the Iftar to celebrate the Ramadan's approaching end.
Majeed said he wanted everyone at the event to see how the Pakistani Students' Association is involved culturally and religiously.
"A lot of people think Pakistan is a place of extremists," he said. "We're not some hard-line country."
Ramadan will end when a new moon appears, Majeed said, which is set to happen at the end of September.
