iFast! Camp (21st - 22nd Sept 07)

(iFast! camp participants)

On 21 – 22nd September, Mazza Gerberra with the collaboration of Sultan Mosque, Hasanah Mosque, Assyafaah Mosque and Ngee Ann Poly Muslim Society with the support of Central Singapore Community Development Council turned Camp iFast into reality.

iFast is a camp targetting Non-muslims with the intention of enabling them to experience Ramadhan, fasting and our Islamic beliefs. It is also a camp for the Muslim youths out there to learn more about their faith and also not forgetting the fun and interesting aspects of Ramadhan.

21st September, at 6 pm the participants of Camp iFast registered at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Iftar was done with the 2 female non-Muslim youths experiencing their first “iftar”. Maghrib prayers was then observed. After Prayers, an ice breaking session with a game of throw the balls and introduce yourself was done. Then a game of guys versus gals was carried out, seeing which team can arrange themselves according to their names in alphabetical order, accurately and without speaking. After most of the participants were introduced to one another, individual teams were then formed through the numbers given to them. So no one had the same team with their friends but random strangers.

The teams were given time to think of a group name. They were then briefed on the heritage walk that will be done and also on the journal that they would be writing throughout the camp. The team names created were : Whatever Malapetaka, BGA ( Be Good for Allah ), Lepakz Gang (LPG), Avitensia and Avicenna. Then the groups had to creatively create their own flag representing them. After that Isyak and terawih prayers was done, and then it was off to Sultan Mosque.

At Sultan Mosque, the participants settled down at the multi-purpose hall. Sitting in their own groups, they were further briefed on heritage walk, there was a change of plans. Instead of walking all the way to esplanade, the teams were given the task of walking to the various mosques and historic religious schools around the area. They had to take group photos of the heritage sites and also draw the logo of those sites. The purpose of the Night/Heritage Walk was to allow the participants to inculcate a sense of appreciation as well as to gain more knowledge about the heritage sites. It also served the purpose of appreciating the calmness of the nights of Ramadhan. Then it was back to Sultan mosque for rest till 4.30 am.

Sahur was provided and everyone ate together, it was also the beginning of the non-Muslims experiencing a day fasting starting with the pre-dawn meal. After subuh prayers, the participants were given rest till 8.00 am, after which the educational activity Sirr Musafir ( secrets of the nomad ) was done.

The educational activity allowed the participants to enjoy playing different type of games namely agricultural, tradiational, sports, Basic Military Training (BMT) and art at the various checkpoints while fasting.

Basically, participants had to search for fruit shaped plastic toys around the mosque for the agricultural checkpoint, play “gasing”, five stones, and passing the light plastic ball at traditional checkpoint, play capteh for sports checkpoint, do a shuttle run for BMT checkpoint and write the word “Ramadhan” as a group using only one pen with 4 strings attached to the marker at the art checkpoint.

('Whatever Malapetaka' working together as a team to write the word "Ramadhan" with only 4 strings attached to the marker.)

After Sirr Musafir , the participants then headed to Harmony centre at An-Nahdhah Mosque where the non-Muslim participants got to know more about the five pillars of Islam and the articles of faith. The male Muslim youth also got to know more about the hijab and why the Muslim sisters wear it. It was also an eye opener for the participants as they learn more about Islamic architecture around the world as well as some Islamic histories and arts.

After the harmony centre visit, the participants headed back to Sultan Mosque for a dialogue session with Ustaz Bani Ali from Darul Arqam. The session was very informative. Ustaz shared with the participants on how Ramadhan came about as a month in Islam, on how the command for fasting was sent to prophet Musa Peace be upon him. Then he gave us tips on how to make use of Ramadhan to be good muslims/human beings. He shared with us some historical aspects of Ramadhan and the success that the Muslims attained because of Ramadhan, like the battle of badr and the success of Salahuddin Al Ayubbi against the crusaders during the holy month.

The participants then had Iftar at the mosque with the public. After Maghrib prayers, the participants had a debrief before certificate and prize giving ceremony was done. The Muslim participants congratulated the non-Muslim participant as she managed to fast one whole day eventhough she had gastric. Her first time experience of the camp was a fun and informative one as initially before she joined the camp, she had no idea on what Ramadhan and fasting is all about. She was glad she attended the camp as she now knew more about the muslim faith and culture.

The participants then bade farewell with each other and headed home.

Words by: Bro Khairul

Edited by: Sis Nisa