The night of March 1 saw UTD’s Muslim community abuzz with the vibrant spirit of communal joy as the month of Ramadan approached.

Over 70 vendors, including student merchants, transformed the Plinth and mall into a marketplace mimicking bazaars, a melting pot of culture and cuisines from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. The aroma of halal culinary delights created by students wafted through campus, from baked goods like sticky baklava and galub jamun to grilled specialties such as Middle Eastern lamb, beef and chicken kabobs. Gold Anatolian-style Turkish and Arab jewelry sparkled beside stands where vendors performed the art of Arabic calligraphy, Islam’s most esteemed art form according to the Quran, inscribing “Allah” (الله) into wooden placards.

Food trucks like the Palestinian-owned Big Dash welcomed those new and familiar to their booza, a Levantine stretchy ice cream made from dairy and orchid flour, while Qamari Yemeni coffee and Abu Omar’s Middle Eastern shawarmas offered a taste of authentic regional flavors. Several vendors sold keffiyehs, traditional arab headdresses or scarves which have become a symbol of solidarity with Palestine, as well as intricately beaded thobes with tatreez, or colorful embroidery– the traditional dress of Palestine. Part of the bazaar’s proceeds went to humanitarian aid funds for those in Palestine, following in the spirit of zakat – a pillar of Islam that requires Muslims to donate a portion of their wealth to charitable causes and those in need.