Volume 19 ● Issue 6 ● May 2012 ● Jumada al Thani 1433
The Graduation Edition
with Mini Autograph Book
Contents
The Graduation Edition
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Lifestyle Learning Outside the Classroom By Anonymous
Lifestyle Earthquake Aftershock By Fatimah Waseem
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Committee BLURBz II
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Committee BLURBz III
Sports and Social Committee By Nael Babaa and Anam Siddiqui
Outreach Committee By Salimatu Jalloh
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Dawah Committee
Committee BLURBz I
By Najeff Waseem
Education Committee By Nadia Babaa
Featured
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Collage Academic Year Wrap Up!
Congrats Grads! MSA Graduates Mini Autograph Book
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As’Salaamu Alaikum and Happy End of the Semester! Like you, Al-Nur is changing. We’re growing because of the amount of love and attention people like you have given us. InshaAllah, Al-Nur hopes to one day be the first student-run, campus-wide Muslim publication of the University of Maryland, College Park. This project is inspired by the response of Muslims and non-Muslims across campus to the advertisements by Facts and Logic About the Middle
East (FLAME) in the Diamondback just last semester. We at Al-Nur have truly realized that action can trumpet words. Al-Nur is looking for a dedicated team of individuals (especially freshman) in making Al-Nur campus-wide a reality. We expect to reach out to the Muslim Link as well as existing minority student-run newspapers to see how it’s done! Tell us you’re interested at msa.nur@gmail.com. Zeynep Karakas
Editor-in-Chief: Zeynep Karakas Editors: Sheima Gimie Somayah Albadawi Mefruz Haque Layout Designers: Sofia Beg Bushrah Rahman Hager Elgendi Fatimah Waseem Writers/Contributors:
A Special Thanks to:
President: Muneer Zuhurudeen Vice President: Osama Eshera Secretary: Tara Mohammed Treasurer: Saad Rehman Masjid Affairs: Omari Sefu Public Relations: Youssef Elnabawi VP of Sisters’ Affairs: Sheima Gimie
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Anonymous Nael Babaa Nadia Babaa Salimatu Jalloh
Fatimah Waseem Najeff Waseem Omari Sefu Anam Siddiqui
President: Noha Eshera Vice President: Tara Mohammed Treasurer: Hanifah Dasti Public Relations: Safia Latif
Lifestyle
Learning Outside the Classroom There are so many experiences – recent and distant – that have shaped me as I am. I came to America about 15 years ago, and as a child I believed home could only be the place where I’d established many playmates and grew accustomed to spending all day with my mom and my brothers. I quickly realized that my dreams of moving back would not be a reality. Life changed drastically – and I had no way of controlling it. Initially my parents, my brothers, and I had stayed at a family friend’s basement – the five of us cooped up in 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen with hopes to move out and live in a home of our own here in Maryland some day. My parents relied on public transportation to bring them to and from the grocery stores, schools, and offices – pretty much everywhere. My mother mastered the concept of self-reliance, and signed up for driving school shortly after our move to the U.S. My dad worked tirelessly so my family and I could live comfortably, and there were many days where I’d see the sunset before seeing him on the weekdays. As the years have passed, these memories have quietly been buried under the constant stress of school, work, etc. However, there are many moments where I wonder if I can ever fill my parent’s shoes; will I rise to the plate and fulfill my required responsibilities without complaints just as they had? Will I ever be able to thank them enough for everything they’ve done for my siblings and me? Have these moments been etched in my mind as a reminder or will I have to continually reflect upon the younger, carefree version of me that failed to recognize how much I had been given? Recently I shadowed a pediatric neuropsychologist who specialized in concussion recovery and treatment, and I was taken aback by the astonishing amount of information the patients’ parents knew – all prepared to spit out information regarding the doctors they’ve consulted, diagnoses, and symptoms that have progressively gotten worse. What stuck to me the most was the pure look of concern on their faces. There was an instant reaction in my heart that made me realize that my career plans may need to be tweaked. Having gotten used to the lab scene, I had thought I would make a difference behind the scenes by researching a specialized field in neuroscience. Yet after my time with the doctor, patients, and parents, all I could think of was whether there is any way I can ease the mountain of worries I saw on those caring parents’ faces? Can I use what skills God has given me to help children recover from whatever ailments they have? Prior to shadowing this doctor I had no interest in pediatrics, but alhamdulillah Allah puts these experiences in life for a reason. So far every moment in college has been a learning experience for me, but the most amount of education I’ve received has been from outside the classroom. From my parents I have learned the meaning of dedication, responsibilities, and the fruits of hard work, all out of God’s mercy. From shadowing doctors I have found new life goals, again, out of God’s mercy.
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Earthquake Aftershock FATIMAH WASEEM
It was almost 5:00 am and I was still in bed. The steady beep of my alarm clock was a sound I’d been pushing to the back of my head for nearly an hour… a reminder that I needed to get up and pray now. Yet, I was still drifting in and out of sleep. A heavy curtain of darkness clouded my eyes as I feel deeper and deeper into my dreams. Suddenly, I felt my bed vibrate. My senses which had previously been dulled by sleepiness became acute. At first, I thought I imagined it… after all, I was asleep right? But when the vibrations continued, I realized it was an earthquake. In that moment of dread, I thought, “Fajr!” I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, my heart throbbing with fear and guilt. I stared at my reflection, wondering whether or not I would have woken up for Fajr had the earthquake not happened. My heart filled with a feeling of apprehension. I don’t know how long I left the water running. I finished Salah. Normally, I’d be in a rush to scurry back into bed. But today, I couldn’t. Even though the earthquake lasted for only a couple of seconds, it left a lasting impression. I was reminded of the all-encompassing power of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Any moment now, calamity can strike. It could happen years from now or perhaps as soon as you finish reading this sentence. Everything is in Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala)’s hands for as a He says, in Surah Qamar, verse 50, “And Our Command is but a single Word, like the twinkling of an eye.” The earthquake I’m referring to had a magnitude of only 3.6 on the Richter scale so there was no damage, alhamdulilah. In fact, no injuries were reported in the areas hit. I can only help but think about the descriptions of earthquakes in the Quran… earthquakes which will lead to the Last Day. In Surah 99, Ayah 1-3, Allah says, “When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, And the earth throws up her burdens (from within), And man cries (distressed): ‘What is the matter with her?” SubhanaAllah. Knowing this, I’m reminded that we should live like we’re dying. What if this earthquake had been the last moment of my life – moment where I was promising myself again and again to wake up after “just 5 more minutes”? And even if it wasn’t, was I the kind of believer that turned to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) only when I needed Him to lessen my fears? Or, was I the kind of believer that turned to Allah in times of both fear and calm, stress and comfort, sadness and happiness? These occurrences can really put things into perspective. They are reminders that we should take advantage of every opportunity, every chance, and every second. We get 86400 seconds each day. What have you done with yours? I realize that this earthquake didn’t just wake me up for Fajr. It woke me up to so much more. The news didn’t report any aftershocks of this earthquake. But I can.
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Committee BLURBz I
EDUCATION COMMITTEE NADIA BABAA
Beginning spring semester of freshman year, my involvement in the MSA grew beyond a few stops in the Musallah every week. I slowly began volunteering more, attending more events, and creating and strengthening bonds between fellow MSA-ers. Before I knew it, it was fall of my sophomore year and the idea of the Education Committee was presented to me. It combined two things I love, Islam and learning, so I was immediately interested. Committee planning occurred over winter break and every other day brought a new change to our agenda. We would advance one step and then retrace five steps to assure we were moving in the right direction. Getting comfortable with quick changes was important because with the launch of the committee in the beginning of the semester, I learned that almost nothing goes as planned. This taught me the importance of action over words because no matter how well we could explain what our goal was, the only thing that mattered was how well we could execute it. I led this committee with Omar Abbasi for almost an entire semester and to this day, I am still not sure what’s the best way to go about leading it. Looking back, I think I would do everything differently. I would change how I communicated with others, the extent to which I communicated with others, how I led events, what events I led, what topics I covered, etc. I am happy to say that I would change a lot because this truly has been a learning process and I loved every minute of it, alhamdulillah. I look forward to next semester, inshaAllah, because I am excited to continue learning. I encourage others to join along on the ride because not only is it really fun :) but placing yourself in a position that you have never been in teaches you to adapt to different situations and teaches you more about yourself as both a person and a Muslim. If done with the right intentions of course. I guess as Education head, I should be stressing everyone’s involvement in this committee but I think it is more important to find your own niche in the MSA. The MSA provides a forum that fosters personal development and I strongly encourage everyone to take advantage of it. Things may not necessarily be done for you, but you have the power to do things on your own and this is far more beneficial than anything else.
HADITH
of the Month
Abu Darda(RA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. “ [Muslim] The Holy Qur’an—image taken by current MSA student
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CLASS OF 2012 Spring 2012
Fall 2012
Saher Ali Nimat AbdulQadir Baig Hanifah Dasti Yasamin Ekrami Diana Elbasha Mariam Eltoweissy Noha Eshera Amina Haleem Mefruz Haque Parise Henry Dina Ibrahim Aishah Ishaq Omnia Joehar Sara Kanwal Safia Latif Mariam Obeidallah Mehreen Rasheed Zulikhat Segunmaru Anam Siddiqui Nadia Zaghal
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Kadija Koroma Tasneem Mahmoud Tara Mohammed Asmaa Muneer Shamma Natour
Spring 2012 Khuzaymah Abbasi Rushain Abbasi Uzair Syed Ahmed Abdulrahman Alfaifi Ibrahim Alyahya Ahmad Arbaboun Bilal Atyia Nael Babaa Omar Dughly Seitu Sulayman Kokayi Mustafa Mohammad Hammad Rasul Saad Rehman Alireza Saboori Bilal Tariq Ibrahim Taufique Rush Tin Najeff Waseem Areeb Quasem
Autographs
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Committee BLURBz II
Sports and Social Committee
made everything an adventure, and to the marvelous MSA members who showed up and made S&S a sucNAEL BABAA & ANAM SIDDIQUI cess.
The heads of the sports and social committee – Anam, Amnah, Nael, and Youssef – have had a lot of fun with the MSA this semester. We started strong with a postJumah RJ’s trip that brought over 60 (!!) members of our MSA together for BBQ wings and chef sandwiches. We continued the semester by breaking the ice and feeling the pressure of newlyweds, sharing a delicious homemade breakfast-for-lunch, facing off in FIFA tournaments, laser tag, a game of assassin, eating and even more. We’ll definitely be ending on a high note with the MSA barbeque, before saying good-bye to the seniors at the brothers’ and sisters’ Grad Bashes. Anam: As a graduating senior, it’s going to be really tough saying goodbye the MSA that’s been a big part of my life for the last four years, but being Sports & Social head has definitely helped me enjoy the time I’ve had with friends, old and new. S&S helped me realize that event planning can be as crazy and fun as it can be stressful and time consuming, but it’s all about the amazing people you work with and the amazing work you do. Thank you to my fellow committee heads who
Nael: It’s very surreal to think that in about a month I’ll be saying goodbye to the campus and MSA that I’ve grown to love so dearly in the past few years. If you were to ask me 2 years ago, “Will the MSA change your life?” I definitely would have said, most likely emphatically, “NO!” It’s funny how life works though, the thing that was so foreign and distant from my mind turned into such an empowering force in my life. The MSA has provided me with the opportunity to work as co-head of Sports & Social and it has been the highlight of my 4 years. It was hectic, it was timeconsuming, it was stressful, but it was all worth it because in the end, we got to see the smiles on everyone’s faces while they enjoyed the activities. S&S is a tool to make new friends, have fun, and get closer to Allah, and alhamdulilah through my experiences I can gladly say that I accomplished all three of those objectives. A major thanks to my committee coheads, and all the magnificent MSA’ers who helped me achieve my wildest dreams and more this semester!
Committee BLURBz III 11
Outreach Committee SALIMATU JALLOH
This highlights for the Outreach Committee this year ranged from participating in Project Downton, to having a steady stream of volunteers at Food Recovery Network every week, to sharing ideas with one another at the Steeping Room and participating in Relay For Life, the outreach committee took many steps towards incorporating the MSA with the rest of campus. We got to engage in activities (outside the classroom) while still doing good for ourselves or the community around us, which was awesome. If I could do it all over again as committee head, I probably would have incorporated another on-campus activity at a time that would have been easier for people to participate. A lot of our volunteering activities were at night/post-Maghrib or on the weekend, so it was hard for people to come out and participate.
Dawah Committee NAJEFF WASEEM
After all the planning, the checklists, the emails, and the meetings, the greatest moment is to be able to take a deep breath and realize there's nothing left for you to do. An hour and 35 minutes after Fast-a-thon began, I was able to take that breath. Coming back to the fully setup inspiration plaza at 12:30, I was able to take that breath. After Jummah when the week was over I took that final sigh of relief. That breath signifies that after all the effort you've put in, the only thing left to do is sit back and say Alhamdulillah. That all thanks and praise are due to Allah alone I did my part and it is up to Him to do the rest. The events I helped put on weren't perfect by any means there were many mistakes and things I wanted to change, but during those moments of despair I thought of something a wise upperclassman once said to me, "We plan and Allah plans, and we all know who the best of planners is." With that in mind, it doesn't matter if only one person shows up to an event because we don't do these things for ourselves, we do it for Allah (SWT.)
Nevertheless, in the end, I learned that I sincerely love the people (other Outreach co-heads) I worked with. The work ethic and optimism that they constantly put up at meetings and Outreach sessions kept me in check, especially concerning my intentions for a lot of the activities that I planned and participated in. I also learned that I actually really enjoy community service, getting together and making whatever difference we could. I also learned how to spread love for everybody's initiatives, whether they were outreach or dawah or individual initiatives our brothers and sisters were doing to spread awareness on various issues. But, most importantly, I learned how important it is to incorporate ourselves into campus life, and participate in different activities instead of sticking to our own little groups, whether it be the green room, or musullah, or wherever we chill. Through outreach, I got to still hang out with Muslims while doing things beyond just “hanging out with Muslims�. When I started leading the Dawah Committee, I used to think there was something perfect I should say to a nonMuslim to bring them into Islam. It wasn't until week after week at the Dawah table that I realized that doesn't just happen. It's not our job to change hearts; only Allah can do that. It is our job, however, to be out there, no matter where there is. It could be at a table, an art gallery, or praying Dhuhr under the sun on Hornbake. We have a responsibility to spread the message, just as the prophets (pbut) did. I never imagined I would be able to talk with others about Islam, nor did I feel like I had the right to. Two and a half months ago when I started, I barely knew anything, and I still don't. I learned the hadith "Convey this message, even if it is only one ayah" (Bukhari), but now I see it wasn't just about speaking the ayah. It was about living it. Islamic Inspiration Week was centered on living those ayahs, and so, too, are all of our dawah efforts. When I used to hear dawah, I thought it was reserved for the most knowledgeable or the most pious and closed off for us normal Muslims. Ironically, I only recently learned dawah means invitation. Since we all share this gift of Islam, then shouldn't we all send invites?
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Volume 19 ● Issue 5 ● May 2012 ● Jumada al Thani 1433
The Graduation Edition
You can find this issue and more online!
www.issuu.com/alnur