By: Aamna F, Marya D, and Jojo S
Are you interested in learning more about the Muslim community? Would you like to create a positive and welcoming environment for yourself and others? If you said “yes'' to the above questions, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) is the club for you!
Right to Left: Mobeen Tariq, Ayyan Umer, Adyan Hossain, Yusuf Tazkarji, Sara Jawarneh, Zuha Islam, Tamanaa Hotaki, Sanya Zaman, Talisa Huynh.
The Woodlands’ MSA is a club that focuses on creating a positive and uplifting environment. It advocates for the needs and opinions of Muslim students, and allows Muslim students to connect with one another.
The MSA has many events, activities, and charities to help Muslims around the world, so everyone can meet new people and have a great time together, just like a family. Some of these events are the Henna event, Arabic calligraphy workshop, MIST (Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament), Islamic Art workshop, and different events that celebrate Ramadan and Eid.
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Henna Event: If students want to have henna done for fun or to raise money for charity, they pay $2-4 to have it done by very talented and wonderful student artists. They can get any design they want on their hands.
Arabic Calligraphy: Where students learn to do Arabic calligraphy as a fun activity and gain a new talent.
MIST: This is a contest about memorising and having knowledge on the Quran, as well as skills in arts such as 2D art, 3D art, graphics, and more. If students are good at writing essays and have extemporaneous speaking skills, this is also a great opportunity. The contest also includes group projects, debates, and sports. However, competitors have a choice in which category they wish to compete in.
Art workshop: An event where students can do geometric and calligraphy art.
Ramadan Events: They host iftar events- where people come to feast and have a great time together after breaking their fast, which lasts from sunrise to sunset. They also have prayers open to all Muslims where students come at a certain time and pray peacefully together. However, these prayer events are not only during Ramadan, but weekly.
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The MSA’s executives' weekly meetings consist of discussions about events that they might be planning for the following week, and follow-ups with previous events, such as how much money they raised for fundraising and how many students attended. The executives then utilise that information for future events, ask for feedback on the events from other students, and reflect on what needs to be improved.
The purpose of the MSA is to essentially provide a cooperative and uplifting community for Muslim students at The Woodlands, a group that makes up 27% of our school’s population.The club makes sure students have positive social connections with each other, advocates for the needs of Muslim students in this school, and helps to fight against discrimination.
Some activities the MSA is planning to hold in the future include workshops to help students learn about Islam, general meetings, and even Halaqas (an event in which Muslims come together to ask questions about their religion, with someone there to answer these questions) which are open to any student who wants to come.
When asked, “What are things that members of the club can learn while being part of MSA?”, Sanya Zaman, the MSA’s event coordinator answered. “It helps you develop a bond with your religion and other people who follow the religion. [For example,] now I can say ‘Assalamualaikum’, a greeting, with other people but before I wasn’t able to say that, it felt weird. Now I’m more comfortable and this is something that we encourage and we do. We also pray together, which is like a spiritual bond and interconnection. We [also] have Islamic workshops that help you gain Islamic knowledge.”
MSA is a club to make friends and have fun, but they also have goals they are trying to achieve. These goals include promoting inclusivity and acceptance in the school,creating a fun environment, and helping students learn about each other’s different beliefs.
Sara Jawerneh, the president of The Woodlands’ MSA, said, “We believe that diversity makes us stronger and in a school where everyone feels comfortable with their identity, students can thrive more and succeed in their life. Oftentimes, Muslim students believe that their social lives and their religious beliefs are incompatible and we want to help students understand that these two things can come hand in hand. We can have a fun time while also following our religious beliefs in school.”
The executives of the MSA were then asked, “What do you like about being part of MSA?”
It's good to have somewhere to just be myself.” explained Talisa Hyunh, the MSA’s event coordinator.
“I love being part of the Muslim community.” said Mobeen Tariq, the MSA’s other event coordinator.
Sara Jawarneh, the president of The Woodlands’ MSA responds, “My favourite thing about the MSA is the people. Everyone here is so incredibly supportive and so incredibly kind. Everyone is always reaching out to see how they can help you. I feel like I gained so much just from the people that are in the MSA.”
Join the MSA today! To get involved or join in on amazing events follow their instagram:
Join their google classroom with access code: m65qum2
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