LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Asalamu Alaikum, Ramadan is a month of self reflection and taking time out of our year to truly dedicate ourselves to our Creator. What better way of reflecting than to create the first issue of the Muslim Student Association’s editorial magazine surrounding the Ramadan of 2023 at Pratt Institute.

For many muslims on campus, this was the first real connection to their faith they’ve had while studying at Pratt. This being the first year in Pratt Institute’s history to have a Muslim Student Association, the board members felt a responsibility to create a welcoming atmosphere for the muslims on campus, and foster a community. Once and for all.

Saddqa, a 19-year-old student from Saudi Arabia, is currently studying architecture at Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture.

Despite being a first-year student, Saddqa made history at Pratt by becoming the President of the Muslim Student Association in the winter of 2023, becoming one of the youngest club presidents ever. “My country [Saudi Arabia] offers a sense of hospitaity beyond measure, I want to emphasize importance of this within the [Muslim Student] Association.” He says.

In this issue you’ll find a variety of different mediums for expressing and documenting Ramadan 2023. We focus on op-ed interviews where we discuss with individual members, their experiences during this Ramadan and much more. We learn about different cultures from across the world, including; Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and more. We explore different art scenes through photography, and arabic calligraphy. The MSA hosted 3 events during Ramadan that are also reviewed here.

We push past the boundaries of Pratt and discuss some significant events that happened during Ramadan. Learning about other cultures is important in the scope of Islam, because Islam is adopted by all, around the world.

We hope you enjoy the first ever issue of Fig&Olive.

Sincerely,