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Welcome to the MSA National's July edition of the E-letter! If you have an MSA success story or would like to share MSA news, we would love to hear from you. Please send all submissions to
eletter@msanational.org by the 20
th of each month. For more information please do not hesitate in contacting us.
Note: MSA National is not responsible for any of the events and projects listed in the E-letter other than those organized by MSA National itself.
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From The President's Desktop
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July 27, 2007
Salams MSAers! It's been a hectic but productive month. The MSA National Executive Committee and Task Force Chairs hit the ground running starting with a three day Transitional Meeting from June 29-July 1
st in Virginia. Many fruit snacks and deep discussions later, the group agreed on three key goals and objectives: Media and Communication, Outreach, and Institutionalization.
Each priority included an implementation and action plan.
As we settled into our positions, the officers welcomed feedback from all members of the community. We reviewed our online survey results, sent welcome letters, exchanged dozens of e-mails with students and met with individuals to hear and incorporate their feedback.
Personally, I had the opportunity to speak at the MPSN house for Muslim Interns in Washington, DC and hear from active MSAers what they liked and wanted to improve about MSA National.
I also accepted an invitation from MPAC to attend a dinner at the conclusion of their Youth Summit also held in Washington, DC. Also noteworthy, I attended the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST) Nationals and after briefly addressing the hundreds of enthusiastic students I got to chat with some familiar and new faces.
In the short four weeks since the start of our terms, we've already begun implementing our goals and objectives by focusing on key change. To outreach and encourage people to volunteer, the Zonal Reps actively recruited Zonal Committee members from across their zones as well as hosts for the 2008 Zonal Conferences.
In addition, we've recruited several members for the Media and Communications Task Force (MCTF) and individuals to lead upcoming projects.
We're excited to launch two initiatives aimed at improving our professional image and increasing communication: the monthly E-letter and the Logo Competition. The E-letter provides MSAers a way to get frequent updates on what's happening in MSA-land.
The new logo is the first step in updating our publications and web presence. Look for the new logo at the 2007 Continental Conference!
The new initiatives were launched amidst the planning for the 2007 Continental Conference in Chicago, IL. Dozens of volunteers are working hard to ensure everything, from programs to logistics, goes smoothly.
We've got some exciting plans for this year's conference; look for a sneak peak in the next Eletter!
August promises to be just as exciting with the final preparations for the 44th Annual Continental Conference and the beginning of a new school year. I look forward to welcoming everyone to the Continental Conference and happy text book hunting!
Asma Mirza
President
MSA National
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Welcome
Note from Your East Zone USA Representative
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Bismillahir Rahman
ar'Raheem,
Assalamu Alaikum
East
ZoneUSA
!!!
My name is Sumrah Haider and it is with great honor and pleasure that I
introduce myself as your MSA National East Zone Representative USA for
2007-2008. For the past couple of years, the East Zone has been one of
the most active and amazing zones, and inshaAllah I hope t
o carry on this
reputation. With many upcoming programs like the Continental Conference
(Aug. 31-Sept. 2), regional conferences, and the annual Zonal conference, I am
very excited for all that lays ahead inshaAllah.
If any chapters are interested in hosting the 2008 MSA National East Zone
Conference, please apply by filling out the Zonal Conference proposal available
at http://msanational.org
by July 20.
The Muslim Student Association-National
exists to assist and serve dedicated members like yourself, and to develop the
potential within your community. To enhance communication and networking
between MSA National and your MSA, I recommend that you join the East Zone
Committee, comprised of members from diverse geographic regions in the zone.
All are strongly encouraged to apply! Applications are currently
being accepted and are due by
Thursday, July 20th, 2007
.
Complete the attached application and please return via e-mail to ezrepusa@msa-national.org.
Also, if you are interested in getting more involved, you can do so by joining
one of the several Task Forces. Fill out a Task Force Survey available at
http://msanational.org and
click on "Get Involved with MSA National's Task Forces for 2007 -
2008" for more information.
I pray that we have a beneficial year and an enriched MSA experience. Please
contact me at any time in the year to come, as I hope to be of benefit to you
while learning and gaining from you in return.
Insha'Allah I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming year!
Jazakum Allahu Khair,
Sumrah Haider
East Zone Rep USA
, '07-'08
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Welcome
Note From Your Central Zone Representative
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Assalamu
Alaikum! My name is Nura Sediqe and I am the new Central Zone Representative for 2007-2008.
If
you reflect on history, from our own Islamic history to the era of the civil
rights movement of the 1960s in the U.S, you will note one thing they have in
common; change came from within our age group. Students our age have had
incredible impact on society. This realization
has motivated my own personal activism and my conviction in knowing that we
can, as students, catalyze far more effective change than any other existing
group.
I have been active in MSA work for
the past four years, from work at my local chapter at the University
of Michigan, to the regional, zonal
and now national level. Those who were involved with the Central Zone last year
will remember how active the zonal committee was in providing resources and
networking opportunities for our 19 states.
We
can work on the firm foundation that was built and continue to improve our
work. I believe we need to empower the MSA's within all the 19 states. MSA
National's goal is to help you improve your own MSA, so my goal is one: to see
how National can serve you and second, to see what local MSA's can do to unite
and facilitate greater change on a national level. From the grass roots to the
larger picture, we need both hands to work together to really change and
improve the conditions of our society.
There are two main initiatives we are
working to finish by the end of summer. First, I would like to encourage interested
students to join the zonal committee, so please e-mail me if you are interested
and we can discuss your area of interests from there, insha'Allah.
Second, we are accepting applications to host
the 2008 Central Zone Conference; interested MSAs or councils, please do apply!
Having just hosted the conference in
Michigan, I can
say it was a lifetime experience that you must experience to understand its
great worth. Please check the website for the application and email me so we
can talk some more.
I hope to hear from every one in the Central
Zone, and for those who will be coming to the Continental Conference in
September, please introduce yourself to me; I would sincerely like to meet all
of you.
I leave off with wise words from Muhammad
Ali, who once said "We have one life; it soon will be past; what we do for
God is all that will last." I hope
you all join me in helping the Almighty through our work.
Wa Alaikum as
Salaam
Nura Sediqe
czrepusa@msanational.org
www.msacz.com
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MSA National $1 Campaign, Serving to Save Lives
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(July 18, 2007) Washington
, DC-
MSA
National, a non-profit organization established in 1963 to serve the Muslim
students of
North
America
,
today announces the beginning of the $1 Campaign to raise funds for orphaned
children and high quality healthcare for the underserved. The $1 Campaign
launches with the vision and dream of every single Muslim student in North
America donating simply $1 in order to support our Muslim and non-Muslim
brothers and sisters in need all around the world.
The
$1 that YOU donate can help feed an orphan, fight illness, provide a child with
an education, and even save a life. Help YOURSELF by helping the less
fortunate. It only takes $1 to help change a person's life.
The
$1 Campaign will serve as a platform to unite each MSA throughout
North America
with a common goal of serving
humanity. Only through this collective unity will this campaign to be a
success. The project will be presented at the Annual MSA National Continental
Conference, which will be held in conjunction with the 44th Annual
ISNA Convention, on August 31-
September 3, 2007
in
Rosemont
,
IL
. Donations collected will be
Given
to Islamic Relief and UMMA Clinic.
"They
ask you (O, Muhammad) what they should spend in charity. Say: "Whatever you
spend with a good heart, give it to parents, relatives, orphans, the helpless,
and travelers in need. Whatever good you do, God is aware of it." (Quran 2:215)
About
MSA National
The
Muslim Students Association National, headquartered near
Washington
D.C.
, has been serving Muslim students
on colleges and university campuses across the
United States
and
Canada
since 1963. There are over 250 MSA
chapters on university and college campuses throughout the
United States
and
Canada
. For more information visit www.msanational.org
About
Islamic Relief
Islamic
Relief (IR) is an international relief and development charity, which aims to
alleviate the suffering of the world's poorest people. It is an independent
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded in the
UK
in 1984. As well as responding to
disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and
social development by working with local communities regardless of race,
religion or gender. For more information visit
www.irw.org
About
UMMA Clinic
UMMA
Clinic was founded in 1996 by former UCLA MSA students and currently serves
thousands of patients each year in one of the poorest communities of
Los Angeles
,
CA
. It envisions itself as part of a
larger network of institutions addressing the health and wellbeing of the
underserved and indigent, mindful of the cultural, spiritual, social and
economic realities that impinge upon them and the traditional barriers to
accessing care. For more information visit
www.ummaclinic.org and watch online at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_p9dU5s3vg
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The
Small Things That Make a Difference
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A
man came to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) complaining about the
hardness of his heart. The prophet said to him, "Do you wish to soften
your heart? Have mercy on the orphan, wipe his head, feed him from your food and
your heart will soften (Sahih).
***
There
was a man named Abu-nasr al-Sayad who lived with his wife and son in extreme
poverty. One afternoon as his wife and son cried from hunger, he left home in a
stressful state and came across a noble sheikh named Ahmad bin Miskeen and said
to him, "I am stressed." The Sheikh responded, "Follow me to the
sea." As they reached the sea, the Sheikh requested Abu-nasr to pray two rakah. Abu-nasr prayed. He then said,
"Say 'bismillah' then throw this net into the sea." Abu-nasr
did as instructed and the net quickly filled with fish. The Sheikh told the man
to sell the fish and buy food for his family.
Abu-nasr
sold the fish and bought two pastries, one with meat and the other sweet. He
decided to return to the Sheikh and offer him a portion of the food; however,
the Sheikh refused the pastry and said, "If we fed ourselves from this,
the fish would not have emerged." On his way home, Abu-nasr saw a woman
crying from hunger and with her was her son who stared at the pastries.
Abu-nasr reflected on the situation and realized that this woman and child were
in the same state as his wife and son. He debated for whom he should save the
pastries, but as he looked into the eyes of the mother, he could not tolerate
the sight of her tears or her son's cries. He extended his hands and said,
"Take these two pastries." A tear rolled down the mother's face and
her son smiled widely.
Abu-nasr
was once again afflicted with pain, unable to solve his own family's hunger. As
he continued to walk home, he heard a man call his name from a distance. The
man told Abu-nasr, "Your father loaned me money twenty years ago, and when
he died I didn't know who to give the money to. My son, take the thirty-three
thousand dirhams that belonged to
your father!"
Abu-nasr
narrates, "Suddenly I became the wealthiest man, I owned many houses and
businesses, and began to donate generously. But one night I saw myself in a
dream where the scale appeared before me and a caller called, 'Abu-nasr
al-Sayad, hurry! Let us count your good deeds and sins.
"So
I counted my good deeds and counted my sins and the sins were heavier than my
good deeds. I asked, 'Where are the times I donated?' The money was presented
but I saw that beneath every donation was a fragment of self-satisfaction; my
donations were useless and I had lost. I cried and then asked, 'How can I save
myself?' and I heard the caller ask, 'Does he have anything left?' I heard the
King respond, 'Yes, left for him are two pastries!'
"The
pastries were placed on the scale of deeds until it balanced with my sins so I
became frightened. I heard the caller ask, 'Does he have anything left?' the
King responded, 'Yes.'
"Then
I asked, 'What?' and the King replied, 'The tear that fell from the woman's eye
when you gave her and her son the pasties.' The tear was placed on the scale
and the good deeds became heavier and I became relieved. I heard the caller ask
again, 'Does he have anything left?' and the King replied, 'Yes, the smile of
the little boy when you gave him the pastry.' My good deeds became heavier and
heavier and I could hear the caller shout, 'He is saved! He is saved!' I awoke
from my sleep saying, ' If we fed ourselves from this, the fish would not have
emerged. Subhanaka rabbi, subhanak!
True is He when He says, 'If you did well, you did well for
yourselves; if you did evil, (you did it) against yourselves' (Israa
17:7)."
***
Sometimes we accomplish paramount dreams.
Other times we do something microscopic, underestimating its significance and
never realizing that it may be the simple deed of smiling at the face of our
brothers and sisters, wiping the head of an orphaned child, sharing our food,
or simply donating $1 to help a person in need that will grant us entrance into
paradise. Please join the MSA National $1 Campaign today and help change a
person's life. "You have not lived today
until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." - Anonymous
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Essay Competition for Students
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The Muslim Foundation of America is inviting
people between the ages of 9-23 to participate in an essay contest.
Participants will be asked to submit an entry centered on a certain theme
according to their age group. Topics include the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as the
best role model, man as the best creation of Allah (SWT), and more. Cash prizes
are awarded for first, second, and third place winners.
The deadline to
submit an essay is
August 2, 2007. For more
information, please visit www.muslimdayparade.com
or call Brother Jabir Choudhry at 800.334.7999.
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Sincerely,
Your 2007-2008
MSA National Board of Directors:
Ex-officio: Mohamed
Sheibani
President: Asma
Mirza
Vice President of
the USA: Hajar Abdul-Rahim
Vice President of Canada: Zeina
Sleiman
Treasurer: Runda
Kuziez
Your MSA National
Zonal Representatives:
East Zone Canada
Rep:
East ZoneUS Rep:
Sumrah Haider
Central ZoneUS Rep: Nura
Sediqe
West ZoneCanada
Rep:
West ZoneUS Rep:
Your MSA
National Task Force Chairs:
Community Service:
Sohaib Jamal Khan
COMPASS: Idris:
El-Bakri
Media and
Communication: Zainab Khan
Information
Technology: Meraj Ahmed
Programs: Chancey Gannett
Your MSA National Office Staff:
Asma Rehman
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