White House careers are notoriously tough — but working during Ramadan presents its own challenges

By Betsy Klein, CNN

Aya Ibrahim’s phone is lighting up. The Biden administration senior adviser is in a 90-member group text with other Muslim American staffers, and during this holy month of Ramadan, it’s lively.

The group chat, Ibrahim said, is a critical refuge for her and her colleagues, in a personal capacity, to connect over “the unique experience of being Muslim in this country.”

“It’s a space that reflects the pretty significant community that we have here. … It’s just nice to have a reminder that there are a lot of other people who are having similar experiences as you are across the administration,” Ibrahim said.

White House assistant press secretary Abdullah Hasan, also in the group chat, called it “the glue to our community.”

More than 20 years since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, Muslim Americans still endure record discrimination and marginalization. There were 6,720 complaints of anti-Muslim discrimination and bias nationwide in 2021, a 9% increase from 2020, per the most recent data from CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In New York City, a 2022 CAIR survey found that 64% of Muslims had experienced a hate crime, bias incident, or both.

Yet at the same time, the community’s diversity and heritage is being celebrated and encouraged at the highest levels of government, where a growing number of Muslim Americans, including those subscribed to the group text, are serving. But there is still no Muslim American serving in a Cabinet-level position, nor has there ever been. It’s a uniquely American juxtaposition underscoring the challenges of this polarized moment: increasing support and inclusion alongside a rising tide of hate.

More than 100 Muslim American appointees are currently working in the Biden administration, and this month, many of them are observing Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar, running from March 22 to April 21 this year. Ramadan is a time of prayerful reflection, community, service, and abstention from “worldly desires.” Muslims fast from food and water during the day, rising early for prayers and a pre-dawn meal, breaking the fast post-sunset with a meal called iftar, and attending nightly communal prayers.

“You’re not eating, you’re not drinking, but also, you are really just trying to be your best self, or as close to it as you can get. And that means that you’re approaching the world and you’re approaching other people with as much kindness and grace as you can humanly offer and in an environment where everything is really fast paced, and there’s a lot of pressure, coming back to that frame always, even when it’s really hard, but also very rewarding,” Ibrahim, who works in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said.

The group text, Ibrahim said, is a space to share information on gatherings and events, and has been “particularly active” during Ramadan. It’s also a place to uplift fellow appointees, Hasan said, “If they’re testifying before Congress, going on TV, or doing generally cool things.”

Ramadan presents a challenge for those with administration day jobs that require long hours in high-stress positions without the luxury of caffeine. And this Ramadan, like many before it, comes at a time of heightened Islamophobia, but also a recent spate of anti-Asian violence and antisemitism, underscoring the work still to be done and the responsibility many of these staffers feel in their positions.

The group text is talking about what it’s like to be Muslim in the US, and in this White House. They’re talking about the little things, like how to explain to non-Muslim colleagues that they might not be able to respond to that email after sunset, and supporting each other through the trials of daily fasting. But they also remind each other of the bigger things — celebrating each other’s diversity and accomplishments.

On a sunny April afternoon midway through Ramadan, over 90 Muslim Biden staffers assembled on the steps of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House for a group photo — a visual culmination of a milestone.

“To see that volume of people — and it included both folks who work in the White House and administration appointees — was really overwhelming. And made me personally feel like our community is finally included in our government,” Mazen Basrawi, who serves as director of partnerships and global engagement at the National Security Council as well as incoming White House liaison to the American Muslim community, said in a recent conversation with CNN.

Basrawi continued, “There’s a lot of weight to carry as the only Muslim in your office on behalf of your community. So this was, for me, extremely moving and powerful to see that number of people. And also a great celebration.”

“That feeling of inclusion, with the feeling that you’re not alone — it’s important,” Moshtayeen Ahmad, the outgoing White House liaison to the Muslim American community, added.

White House iftars: a brief history

The first known commemoration of Ramadan at the White House came during Thomas Jefferson’s administration in 1805, when a Tunisian diplomat came for a sunset dinner during Ramadan. The diplomat, attendee and future President John Quincy Adams wrote in his memoir, “freely partook of the dishes on the table without enquiring into the cookery.”

But the annual tradition of hosting an iftar dinner at the White House was formally started during the Bill Clinton administration in 1996 by then-first lady Hillary Clinton. It continued every year of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump broke with the nearly two-decade tradition and did not host an iftar dinner, instead issuing a statement. He resumed the annual event in 2018 and 2019, calling it “a sacred tradition of one of the world’s great religions” as he cited “tremendous progress” with Muslim-majority countries. It was canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

President Joe Biden did not host an iftar in the first year of his presidency, also due to the pandemic, but held a reception marking Eid al-Fitr, a festival marking the end of Ramadan, in 2022. And he and first lady Dr. Jill Biden are set to host a reception commemorating Eid al-Fitr again at the White House on May 1. They’ve also hosted events marking Easter and Passover this year.

Throughout the month, there have been several events, including an interfaith iftar at the home of Dr. Shereef Elnahal, under secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health, one at the Office of Management and Budget for current and former staff, another at Hasan’s condo rooftop, and another featuring second gentleman Douglas Emhoff. A group of Muslim appointees often attend Friday prayers offered at a church near the White House during Ramadan, and other departments and agencies have hosted their own iftars.

Muslim American service

Muslim American appointees serve across government agencies, covering a broad range of policy areas and roles from the intern level to senior leadership with a range of expertise.

“Muslim Americans in my administration have key roles in tackling the climate crisis, rebuilding our economy, safeguarding our health, restoring our alliances, and so much more,” Biden said in remarks at last year’s Eid reception.

Mosaic, the Muslim Federal Employee Association, has evolved over nearly a decade as a nonprofit, nonpartisan group supporting Muslim federal employees. The group, Mosaic spokesperson and career federal employee Komal Rasheed said, “has created a safe space where federal employees can share information and have discussions with each other on how to navigate issues and accommodations related to their faith in the workplace.” This year, the organization created a document on Ramadan for members to share with their workplaces as a “way to introduce and inform others about Ramadan and how to support the Muslim workforce.”

Government agencies, Rasheed said, have “largely” been “very amenable” to accommodations, noting that the Department of Commerce has “two reflection and focus rooms that Muslims are using for prayer during Ramadan.”

Ali Zaidi, the White House’s national climate adviser, told CNN in an interview that his Muslim colleagues “represent the diversity of the Muslim American community” as well as “the diversity of this country” more broadly.

That inclusion is important, deputy for infrastructure implementation management Asma Mirza says, to laying a groundwork for future representation.

“When I grew up, I didn’t see anybody who looked like me in these types of senior roles. And I’ve got a Muslim intern who can talk to me about his full self and the full challenges that he’s facing. … That’s an important part of having people in these roles — both for policy matters, and for leadership and mentorship and building the bench of the next set of leaders,” she said.

Challenge and purpose

The month of Ramadan is a spiritually, mentally and physically challenging time for anyone observing.

“You definitely have your caffeine withdrawal period,” Zaidi said. “But in seriousness, you know, this is a month that really pushes you to forge community. It’s very easy when you’re in the 24/7 grind to lose a sense of the people that surround us and strengthen us. This is an opportunity to reach out to them. It’s really a month that’s oriented towards service.”

Zaidi said his consciousness of his public service is “heightened” during Ramadan.

“I am reminded of the intentionality and purpose that brings me here. I think it infuses every moment with a deeper sense of purpose. And that makes it even more rewarding,” he said.

There’s also the challenge of a shift in schedule to accommodate early morning and late-night prayer.

“For me, the biggest challenge is the lack of sleep. Not the giving up of food and drink — your body adjusts pretty quickly to that — but the lack of sleep and the interrupted sleep makes it much more challenging,” Basrawi said.

West Wing leadership has provided flexibility for Muslim colleagues, like work-from-home options, during this time, and those who talked to CNN said this administration’s culture has been understanding of Ramadan’s requirements and sensitive to those observing.

“My colleagues who aren’t Muslim have been incredibly supportive — understanding if, yeah, sunset, I’m gonna be really offline, not be able to check my email or respond to a phone call right away. Or if I might send emails at odd hours, just because that’s the time that I’m up. They’ve been really accommodating,” Mirza said.

And there are the lighter concerns — like that favorite afternoon snack from the White House Navy Mess, a small cafeteria in the West Wing.

“I really, really miss the White House Mess chocolate chip cookies. Which I know is not maybe the most important thing. I think water and sleep probably get to higher on the list, but, you know, 3 in the afternoon, if you’ve had a really long day, there’s nothing like a White House Mess chocolate chip cookie,” Mirza said.

‘Ambassadors to that work of healing’

This Ramadan comes at a difficult moment for Muslim Americans, who have faced lingering Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11 that has only reignited with a rash of hate crimes targeting Muslims and other minority groups in recent years.

In the previous administration, the Muslim American community grappled with then-President Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric — including retweets of anti-Muslim propaganda videos while in office — and immigration policies aimed at predominately Muslim countries. While Trump hosted two iftars, many in the community said at the time they were reluctant to break bread at the White House.

In his 2020 campaign, Biden ran in part on a message of unity and healing, and when taking office, vowed to have a staff that “looks like America” as part of that promise.

During the presidential transition, Mirza, who served as chief of staff to the Covid-19 response team before her current role in infrastructure implementation, worked on the personnel team. “That was my mission: to have diversity in all of its forms. So to see it in real life, like not just in memos and dashboards, but to see it on the steps with real humans was just really moving,” she said of last week’s group photo.

“The president ran on this notion of uniting the nation. This is part of what that looks like,” Zaidi said as his Muslim colleagues chatted on the steps of the EEOB last week after they took the picture.

There is an awareness, Zaidi said, of the work still to be done to combat hate-fueled rhetoric and violence and his colleagues’ role in it.

“All hate in all its forms is unacceptable. And I think the way we fight back is by celebrating our differences. And celebrating what brings us together and not allowing folks to divide us. And I think that’s been a core element of the president’s leadership,” he said.

Zaidi continued, “All of the members of his administration, regardless of their background, are really called on to be ambassadors to that work of healing, of bringing together, of celebrating, and not allowing hate in any form to have safe haven in our communities.”

Basrawi echoed that sentiment.

“It’s part of a bigger story of combating hate. And it is a priority for the president. And it’s, for me, extremely meaningful to be part of that effort to combat that hate. Not only because it’s, you know, it’s against my community, but those of us who have been the victims. Communities of victims of this type of hate are coming together to fight hate in all its forms,” he said.

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CNN’s Khalil Abdallah and Anthony Umrani contributed to this report.