Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Muslim Student Association Looks to Expand
Muslim Student Association Vice President Abdullah Majidi and President Salman Khanani led the MSA General Body Meeting last night through ways of expanding the group and educating people that are ignorant of the Islam religion.
As Majidi opens the MSA General Body Meeting, he says, "Bismillah," which is Arabic for "In the Name of Allah." From there, he and President Salman Khanani introduce to the group the idea of creating committees for Community Service and Islamic Education.
"[We, as Muslims need] to engage and educate Muslims and non-Muslims," said Majidi when talking about Islamic Education as a way to get rid of the negative stereotypes about Muslims.
As for Community Service, the group is already working with other groups on campus to raise money for the Pakistani Flood Relief. In the past, the MSA has held events such as Hoops for Haiti, a basketball tournament that raised money to help after the earthquake that devasted Haiti last year.
Ahmend Zakaria, a Pakistani man studying at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is happy to be helping his country with a group that helped him to transition to this new culture.
"When I first came here, I lived in Southwest, and it was a culture shock," said Zakaria. "[I was introduced to the MSA when] I met a Muslim R.A. at my cluster office, and he spoke to me in Urdu [the national language of Pakistan]. It was nice to speak to someone in Urdu in America because I never did."
One of the reasons that Rahmah Mohamad Pauzi, a transfer student from Malaysia, chose UMass Amherst when looking at schools is because of the MSA.
"I looked to see how strong the MSA organization before I even came to America," said Pauzi, "because I knew I would need to have a strong Muslim support."
Karima Allam, a senior at the university, had already experienced the MSA as a sophomore in high school through older friends.
"I went to Ed dinners," said Allam. "I met the people, and they were amazing so when I was applying to college, I made sure to apply here."
Noman Khanani, the events coordinator of the MSA, says that transitioning into the MSA when beginning college was easy.
"I knew a lot of people in the MSA," said Khanani. "I came to a lot of events and meetings and got to know the administration. Even though we are an organiztion, we are all friends. We all hang out together, and we all eat lunch and dinner together."
There are about 40-50 members in the MSA, but not all are actively involved. The boardmembers meet more often than the rest, but the new committees will meet every other week.
To get more information on the Muslim Student Association or to join, you can go to the Campus Pulse page on the group, or send an e-mail to umassmsa@gmail.com.
To end this blog post , I am going to say the same thing Majidi said to end the meeting: "Janakumullah Khair," Arabic for "May God Reward You All."
As Majidi opens the MSA General Body Meeting, he says, "Bismillah," which is Arabic for "In the Name of Allah." From there, he and President Salman Khanani introduce to the group the idea of creating committees for Community Service and Islamic Education.
"[We, as Muslims need] to engage and educate Muslims and non-Muslims," said Majidi when talking about Islamic Education as a way to get rid of the negative stereotypes about Muslims.
As for Community Service, the group is already working with other groups on campus to raise money for the Pakistani Flood Relief. In the past, the MSA has held events such as Hoops for Haiti, a basketball tournament that raised money to help after the earthquake that devasted Haiti last year.
Ahmend Zakaria, a Pakistani man studying at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is happy to be helping his country with a group that helped him to transition to this new culture.
"When I first came here, I lived in Southwest, and it was a culture shock," said Zakaria. "[I was introduced to the MSA when] I met a Muslim R.A. at my cluster office, and he spoke to me in Urdu [the national language of Pakistan]. It was nice to speak to someone in Urdu in America because I never did."
One of the reasons that Rahmah Mohamad Pauzi, a transfer student from Malaysia, chose UMass Amherst when looking at schools is because of the MSA.
"I looked to see how strong the MSA organization before I even came to America," said Pauzi, "because I knew I would need to have a strong Muslim support."
Karima Allam, a senior at the university, had already experienced the MSA as a sophomore in high school through older friends.
"I went to Ed dinners," said Allam. "I met the people, and they were amazing so when I was applying to college, I made sure to apply here."
Noman Khanani, the events coordinator of the MSA, says that transitioning into the MSA when beginning college was easy.
"I knew a lot of people in the MSA," said Khanani. "I came to a lot of events and meetings and got to know the administration. Even though we are an organiztion, we are all friends. We all hang out together, and we all eat lunch and dinner together."
There are about 40-50 members in the MSA, but not all are actively involved. The boardmembers meet more often than the rest, but the new committees will meet every other week.
To get more information on the Muslim Student Association or to join, you can go to the Campus Pulse page on the group, or send an e-mail to umassmsa@gmail.com.
To end this blog post , I am going to say the same thing Majidi said to end the meeting: "Janakumullah Khair," Arabic for "May God Reward You All."
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