Ummah’s First All-School Assembly Celebrates Ramadan
March 28, 2024—Ummah is an Arabic word meaning “inclusive community”—a fitting name for Winsor’s affinity group for Muslim students who presented their first all-school assembly at the end of March. The assembly was a joint effort between Lower School and Upper School students who had to coordinate across divisions and meeting times to make the assembly come to life. Celebrating Muslim joy, sharing traditions about Ramadan, and featuring a special guest speaker, students discussed how ummah is felt within their lives as Winsor students.
“I don’t usually travel during the month of Ramadan,” shared award-winning author Hena Khan, “but because of Winsor’s beautiful invitation, I had to say yes.” For over two decades, Ms. Khan has been publishing books for children, including many that center around Pakistani American and Muslim characters. Many Winsor students are familiar with her work from reading Amina’s Voice, a Class I summer read. Other titles such as Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns and More to the Story are also beloved by Winsor students in both Lower School and Upper School. As Ummah’s special guest speaker, Ms. Khan spoke about representation and how everyone deserves to be the hero in stories.
“As a child,” Ms. Khan explained, “I remember feeling self conscious when friends would ask me ‘did you color with marker on your hands?’” Named after the plant that is used to make henna tattoo, Ms. Khan remembers encountering confused looks and questions when she would come to school with designs adorning her hands, but nobody seemed interested in the full story. “I felt a bit invisible; people didn’t understand who I was,” she shared.
Her mother cultivated a childhood love of reading by bringing Ms. Khan and her siblings to their local public library. Despite the bags and bags of books that she brought home, “I never saw myself in books,” she remembered. She enjoyed stories with strong female protagonists and favorite books included Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Ramona by Beverly Clearly. Years later, Ms. Khan returned to the same public library with her son and there still weren’t any children’s books with Muslim characters. “After having a son, I wanted him to feel heard and seen,” she explained. “It wasn’t until I was almost 30 that I encountered a book where I recognized first my mother and then me.” The book was The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and these transformative realizations led her down a new career path.
In reality, Ms. Khan has been an author all along, and she has the hard copies to prove it. Although the hand-written newspapers from fourth and fifth grade had a decidedly smaller circulation than her current published backlist, there’s a key difference in her younger writing. “I left out the details about my culture because I didn’t feel like I had permission to write about those things.”
Now as an adult, and especially with her children and younger self in mind, ”it was really important to load my books up with cultural references,” she explained, “but they’re incidental; the main story is about the character, their growth, and kid-related challenges. Their identity is not a source of pain or trauma for them.” Today, her books place an emphasis on universal themes and values—charity, community, family, food. “People accuse me of making them hungry,” she joked.
When she was asked to write It’s Ramadan, Curious George, the mischievous monkey attends Eid festivities with his friend Kareem and he encounters a familiar food. “Kabobs, curry, veggies, and rice, George spots a big pizza and takes a hot, cheesy slice,” reads the book. Pointing out that American Muslims are part of American society and appreciative of things like pizza, Ms. Khan emphasized that of course parties often have pizza.
You could say things have come full circle. Revisiting favorite books, Ms. Khan put her own spin on Little Women with More to the Story and found inspiration in Ramona Quimby for the Zara’s Rules series.
The heartwarming assembly wrapped up with a Q&A panel between Ms. Khan and members of Ummah. “If it wasn’t for the encouragement of other people who pushed me, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible [to become a writer],” she shared. When asked what is challenging for her, Ms. Khan told students, “I’ve been thinking a lot about advocating for myself, I’m terrible at negotiating, I hate talking about money. I’ve been working to push and ask for more and what I deserve as a minority, a woman.”
Ms. Khan and Ummah answered the final question together. A video with Ummah members detailed everything students love about being Muslim such as learning to read Arabic, experiencing Eid with friends and family, community, vibrant celebrations, bringing people together—especially during Ramadan, really good food, and silently recognizing other hijabi women with a glance. For Ms. Khan, the answer was the ummah. “It’s a beautiful thing to have a community of people that you feel connected to all over the world, to be in congregation and know exactly how to pray, a feeling of sisterhood, being hugged by strangers, and invited to their home for dinner or tea.”
Ms. Khan is certainly not alone. Now a yearly tradition, the Muslim parent affinity group at Winsor hosted an off-campus Iftar gathering on March 30 where all individuals who identify with Muslim culture were invited to attend.
Staying for lunch, Ms. Khan joined Lower School and Upper School Ummah during affinity group meetings to talk about writing craft, creating characters, and writing personal narratives. She spent time connecting with students, talking about her experiences in school and hearing from students about their own. Ms. Khan also dedicated copies of her newest book to each of the Ummah students during a special book signing. It was a rewarding visit for all involved.
Winsor continues to support students during Ramadan and beyond in myriad ways. For students who are fasting, the library is open during lunch and Chef Heather is helping interested students take home a box from the kitchen to eat later in the day. Muslim students who wish to do so are invited to borrow a prayer rug and use the Yoga Room as a prayer space during the Dhuhr prayers at midday during lunch, not only during Ramadan, but throughout the year.
