On Monday, March 3, 2025, the Upper School Muslim Student Union (MSU) hosted its third annual Iftar in the Dining Hall Commons, bringing together students, faculty, and community members to learn about the significance of fasting during Ramadan. This year’s Iftar featured former NBA player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom as its keynote speaker. Freedom’s presence and the hard work of MSU student leaders helped gather twice as many attendees as last year’s event, making it the largest Iftar gathering in the event’s three-year history.
MSU co-facilitators Berra Deryal ’26 and Zaydan Lalani ’26 hosted the Iftar with the help of Muslim Upper School students and their parents. With an introductory slideshow presentation on the basics of Ramadan and Islam, the Iftar aimed to promote understanding and cultural appreciation of Islamic culture within the MFS community.
Students like Amiya Sant ’26, who has attended the event since their freshman year, said she believes that the Iftar events are an opportunity for community members to deepen their understanding of Ramadan.
Sant said, “I always enjoy the reminder of what Ramadan is really about from Zaydan and Berra every year.”
Many students who attended the first MSU Iftar, which took place in 2023, have noticed the significant increase in attendance over the years, and expressed excitement about the growth and expanding impact of the event.
As Aami Holmes-Gupta ’26 mentioned, “Freshman year was super fun, and I’m so excited to see how much it’s grown, because I remember when it was three or four tables [of students who attended]. [The growth of the event] just makes me so happy for everybody that organized this, because I’ve seen it grow, and I’m sure that it’s paying off in their hearts. I just know that this means so much to them.”
Joshua Carroll ’25 expressed agreement with Holmes-Gupta. “I remember there weren’t that many people at the first one, but now it’s packed out, so it’s great,” said Carroll.
Jaylen Miller ’25 agreed with Carroll and Holmes-Gupta, while also highlighting that the event is still as entertaining and informative as the first ever Iftar.
Miller noted, “[The event has grown to have] more people but it feels the same. Same vibes; everything fun, everything merry.”
This year’s Iftar featured a new and exciting addition: a basketball training session with Freedom before the Iftar, which drew students from all grade levels to attend. Freedom, a former NBA player, engaged participants with interactive games while taking time to answer any questions from students.
Deryal’s family knows Freedom through a mutual friend and had asked him to speak at this event in order to get younger students to interact with a Muslim athlete.
“He does a lot of volunteer work,” said Deryal, “And he kindly offered himself to host this [basketball training session], which is really sweet.”
One of the most popular activities during the training session was a game in which all participants were invited to join. The rules were simple — students had to clap whenever Freedom dribbled the ball, but if they clapped when he faked a dribble, they were out. The game continued until only two players remained. At that point, the remaining students had to choose a partner they believed would win. If their chosen player lost, the students had to do ten push-ups as a consequence.
MSU member, Zahra Mammadova ’26 said this game was the highlight of the basketball training session.
“Even though I was one of the first players to get out, I thought the activity was really fun as a person who doesn’t play basketball, ” said Mammadova. “The best part was when the person I chose won, and I got out of doing ten push ups.”
The co-leaders of MSU expressed their excitement about the overwhelming turnout, reflecting on the event’s growth over the past three years. They emphasized that the success of the Iftar was not solely measured by attendance, but by the sense of community and connection.
“I think a lot of the reasons the event went super well were because Berra and I were able to build a super strong community and group dynamic early in the year,” said Lalani. “I think that’s what I’m most proud of, outside of any attendance numbers or anything like that.”
