al-Nur THE NEWSLETTER OF

THE MUSLIM STUDENTS ’ ASSOCIATION AND

THE MUSLIM WOMEN OF MARYLAND

by Tubah Sultan

Judging Others Have you ever felt judged by another person?

Why do you think people judge others? Or here’s a

better question to think about to truly bring it

home: Have you ever felt judged by the brothers and sisters who make up the MSA/MWM here at

College Park? Finally, do you feel that you do not want to participate in the MSA or MWM at all, out of

fear of being judged? Well guess what? You are not

alone. Over the years, many students, and even the

most active MSA/MWM brothers and sisters that

you see around you, have had this thought cross their minds. The fear of being judged has, at one

point in time or another, restrained them from get-

ting to know the people in the MSA/MWM. It has suffocated them to the point that they just didn’t

show up to pray in the musallah, didn’t attend an MSA/MWM event, or even worse, didn’t even attend

Jumuah on Fridays, which should be a day where

the entire Muslim community on campus comes to-gether!

Why am I bringing this up? For two reasons: 1. It’s time to be hon-

est and direct. This

topic isn’t something that needs to go un-

der the musallah rug. We all have felt

the implications of

judging others or being judged our-

selves. It’s some-

thing real that is happening every-

day.

2. On Friday October 17th, we had, I be-

lieve, one of the most memorable/

mucho amazing/

supercool General Body Meetings ever!

(Continued on page 2)

Inside this Issue

HistoryHistoryHistory

Founded in 1969, the Muslim Students' Association

is an organization dedicated to serving the Muslim

students on campus and educating the campus com-munity about Islam and Muslims. We carry out Is-

lamic activities, sponsor social, community service,

and charity events, and strengthens relations and

understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Quran & Spiritual Reflections Page 4

Personal Experiences Page 6

Hadith/Duaa of the Week Pages 4 & 5

MSA Events Page 2 Creative

Writing Pages 7 & 8

Political Action & Current Events Page 3

VOLUME 13 DHU AL-QI'DAH 16, 1429 - NOVEMBER 14, 2008

“...Light upon light! Allah guides to his light whomsoever he pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men, and Allah knows all things full well.” [Holy Qur’an]

Contact Us! Please send your creative submissions, comments, and suggest ions to msa.nur@gmail .com or v is it www.msaumd.org

ISSUE 3

the Light the Lightthe Lightthe Light

MSA events

What was the topic? Simple –

judging others and our percep-

tion of others. Who were the speakers involved in the dis-

cussion? Every single student present in the musallah (like

40+ people!).

Eman Haggag, President of the

Muslim Women of Maryland, led

the discussion and asked every-one present, “If there is anything

you can say to the world about

this topic (of judging others) what would it be?”

To which, in no particular order, many students responded. Here

is what everyone had to say:

● “Just be yourself.”

● “It’s okay to be different.”

● “Give people the benefit of the doubt, and be blessed that Allah

(swt) is making you a mechanism

of guidance.” ● “[Don’t] criticize what Allah cre-

ated... we have no right to do

that.” ● “Everyone’s at a different point

in their deen. Try to get to know someone better... where you are

at is because of Allah.”

● “Embrace those around you!” ● “It’s okay to agree to disagree,

but don’t ever change your per-

sonality.” ● “Only the action needs to be

corrected, if you see something

that someone is doing wrong. It’s not the person themselves.”

● “It’s all about intention.” ● “Put weight into your words.”

● “Be humble; it’s a mercy from

Allah (swt) that you stay away from doing wrong... You don’t do

this on your own.”

● “Be easy on others.” ● “Be open, and fix your own

flaws before approaching those around you.”

● “Don’t bash people in public.”

● “Stand up for one another.” ● “Islam is different for everyone,

and everyone’s at different lev-els.”

● “Be positive, be a role model,

and beat people back with positiv-ity.”

● “Always strive to make yourself

and those around you better peo-ple.”

● “We see that religious people

judge those of us that are ‘less religious,’ but we need to under-

stand that it goes both ways. Those that are ‘less religious’ also

judge those who are ‘more reli-

gious’” ● “Build relationships; get to

know those around you.”

● “Don’t approach someone with advice if you really don’t know

them.”

● “Don’t let others’ ignorance get to you.”

● “Always evaluate yourself and

watch what you say.” ● “Make duaa for someone you

judge.” ● “Think about how far your ac-

tions can go. You don’t know

where the other person is coming from... you don’t know if someone

else treated them badly before

you. Everyone’s different... you need to accept that.”

● “Self confidence is key! Be con-

fident in yourself and in your heart; the world will respect you

and accept you for it.” ● “Fear Allah!”

● “Don’t be in a situation where

you will be judged by the group you are with.”

● “We are still responsible for

ourselves... Appearances are im-portant... Don’t give [others] an-

other reason to judge you in a bad way.”

● “Be diplomatic. Make people

feel comfortable, and be sincere.” ● “We all come from different

backgrounds. We need to be fair to all newcomers. Don’t judge a

sister [who is] not wearing hijab.”

● “People like to be nurtured; if you don’t know somebody, don’t

confront them. Always strive to

build a relationship before judging others.”

● “Actively search for what is

right. Don’t throw judgments at others without being 100% con-

vinced... We will be accountable for everything we say.”

● “We fear being judged because

we know we judge others.”

(For the most part, each quote

above is from a different person that was present.)

The MSA/MWM is not just about a few people. A few people

do not, and should not, define the

culture of the MSA/MWM in its en-tirety. The MSA/MWM at the Uni-

versity of Maryland, College Park is about all of us. It’s about the

community. And we want the

community to be diverse and full of people with different perspec-

tives and personalities that come

from all walks of life.

If you feel that the MSA/MWM

is too conservative or just not a place where you can fit in, then

guess what! We NEED you! We need you to change it. We need

you to start changing the culture

for the better. We need your awe-someness, your personality and

we need you to just be your-

self!

(Continued from page 1)

Judging Others

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 2

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 3

political action & current events

by Nurideen Bashir

So Where’s Our Mystique?

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

YES! Barack Obama has officially

won the Presidential seat for the United States of America. Thanks,

in part, to the millions of voters who single-handedly put him into

office, if you believe in the ideal of

American politics. This was done with the omission of my own vote

since I did not participate in this

year’s Presidential Election. I just never quite found someone that

represented what I felt were my

best interests. Now, don’t get me wrong. I

participated in too many debates to count, lis-

tened closely to the is-

sues and to the people in my own circle, I went to

see some of these men

and women more than once, I even had a

staunch Barack Obama

supporting aunt pass away, as I sat trying to

soak up the mystique

that everyone so fer-vently felt for the afore-

mentioned candidate. I’ve even pondered about a way

to get 2-3 million people to not

vote! So I’ve literally had a decent

part of my existence muddled up

in these here elections until I started to sound like Obama and

wave like McCain. Still, where one

felt like their issues were settling at this time, mine, on the other

hand, were steadily amplified with what seemed to be no sign of

lessening or tapering off. I simply

did not and do not believe in this

system. Everything it tells me falls farther and farther out of the Is-

lamic guidelines I hold dear. In-

terestingly enough, most of the Muslim Obama supporters have

been the main contingency to throw most of the epithets that go

against my understanding of Is-

lam. I’ve heard everything from, you should vote for him because

“he’s the first black candidate,

and you’re black,” “he gives hope,” “he could be Muslim… you

never know” and my personal fa-

vorite that, “he is the lesser of

two evils;” or, as Chuck Baldwin

of the Constitution Party would call them “the evil of two lessers.”

Yet none of these abide by the

tenants I grew up on. For one, I was taught that Is-

lam was dictated by your actions

and faith, not your skin color (making that null and void); and

speaking of actions, Islam pro-nouncedly states that the key to

changing your condition is faith

and action, not “hope.” Faith is

the full belief. Hope is the wish that something will happen. In

other words, though it may seem

minute, there is a difference be-tween hoping you will pass the

test and having faith that you will pass it. Islam doesn’t say to hope

that Allah will forgive you, it says

to have faith that Allah will forgive you. So then, if faith and action

breed change, I have to con-

stantly ask myself if (logically) I should vote for someone who asks

me to hope/wish for change, and

not have faith or act on change. To the third

statement, that Obama could be Muslim and

that I never know, I un-

derstand that just fine because he could hon-

estly be; but where in

Islam is there room for ambiguity? My leaders,

(Allah and the Prophet ,

SAW) never left room for what-if’s or could-

be’s.

The fact is: everything is laid out for us to see

and accept or reject openly (very little, if any). And

finally, Islam forbids the evil, and

establishes what is righteous; so how would I then find myself ac-

cepting the “lesser” of an evil?

So NO, I won’t vote. At least not presidentially. I will not exer-

cise my “right” to be a part of a

system that never wanted me. As a Muslim delegate once told me in

the midst of debate, “Islam and politics don’t mix,” to which I re-

sponded, “then why are you a (Continued on page 5)

“Therefore remember Me (by

praying, glorifying), I will remem-ber you, and be grateful to Me

(for My countless Favors on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.” -The Qur’an 2:152.

In a few days, we can finally

breathe a sigh of relief. After stressful weeks of cram studying,

sleepless nights and overdosing

on coffee, we begin to see light at the end of the tunnel – Thanks-

giving break! In these short mo-ments of happiness, we turn to

Allah with gratitude. Islam en-

courages us to open our eyes, count every blessing of Allah, and

thank Him daily. As Muslims, we

are short-selling ourselves – no, I'm not talking about buying

zabiha turkey at a royal price.

The pilgrims gave thanks when God provided them with tur-

keys as a means of sustenance. Today, we give thanks when God

rids us of the after-effects of over-

eating. A blessing deserves thanks, and one cannot thank God

without remembering that He is

the One from whom the blessing

has come. “Remember Me, and I will remember you. Be grateful to

Me, and do not lose faith.” Unde-niably, we all have more blessings

than turkeys, potatoes, yams, and

corn. And even more than com-fortable shoes, vegan chicken

salad, cell phones, college educa-

tions, and houses. When we give thanks to God,

we are remembering Him – yet

the greatest blessing is simply to be able to give thanks, for if we

remember Him, He promises to

remember us. Thus the cycle con-tinues, and we are showered in

blessings and increased in near-ness to Him – what could be a

better reward as long as we are

grateful, and at the same time, are Muslim! SubhanAllah, in these

past few weeks, Allah’s (swt) ever

-lasting mercy has been proven over and over again. Exams that

we are certain we have failed re-

ceive above-average scores. Pa-pers we deem as unworthy are

returned with smiles and praises. And, as I am sure, we have found

many other surprising achieve-

ments throughout the year. So, let’s give the turkeys a lit-

tle break this year – something

they can be thankful for :) – and InshaAllah remember that

Thanksgiving should not be desig-

nated once a year, but should be a continuous form of remem-

brance in everything we do.

by Mahvish Ameen

Thanksgiving All Year Round

hadith / duaa of the week Submitted by Kadiatu Bah

quran & spiritual reflections

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 4

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

"When Allah created Paradise and Hell-fire, He sent Gabriel to Paradise, saying: 'Look at it and at what I have

prepared therein for its inhabitants.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "So he came to it and looked at it and at what Allah had prepared therein for its inhabitants." The Prophet (peace and

blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "So he returned to Him and said: 'By your glory, no one hears of it with-out entering it.' So He ordered that it be encompassed by forms of hardship, and He said: 'Return to it and look

at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

said: "So he returned to it and found that it was encompassed by forms of hardship. Then he returned to Him and said: 'By Your glory, I fear that no one will enter it.' He said: 'Go to Hell-fire and look at it and what I have

prepared therein for its inhabitants;' and he found that it was in layers, one above the other. Then he returned

to Him and said: 'By Your glory, no one who hears of it will enter it.' So He ordered that it be encompassed by lusts. Then He said: 'Return to it.' And he returned to it and said: 'By Your glory, I am frightened that no one

will escape from entering it.'

part of it?” To me, if Martin Luther

King became a threat worth kill-

ing, only once he denounced his dream and began standing

against the system rather than fighting within it, I figure there

must be some validity to this

strategy, maybe something they don’t want me to know or do. And

besides, this is the exact same

system that stole one, maybe two elections that we’re jumping into,

without ever having that issue ad-

dressed. So really, it has little to do

with change at all in my view. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows?

And I don’t begrudge anyone who

actually did vote, but the world is a show and only I define my

stage. If I relent, where then

would the rest of the Islamic val-ues I’ve handed over to this coun-

try lead me to? This great country

is known to attack the people first and then their values, until they

either assimilate and concede to

American ideals or become deci-mated. That’s common history, so

why am I being asked to, and sometimes chided for not helping

in making “history” repeat itself

again? So, why then am I rejoicing in

the spoils of the Obama victory?

No, it’s not because I’ve magically joined the “Yes We Can” band-

wagon; I’ve always felt we could, even if McCain had won. The only

difference, and the reason why I

rejoice, is because with skin color and name out of the way, an

Obama presidency metaphorically gives us more fire power;

whereas, a McCain presidency

would mean we’d have to get more power to fire. This suggests

that we would’ve been a few steps

back as Muslims when it comes to changing this world, as compared

to now, where we are obligated to

make that change. We now have no excuses and should refuse to

rest on our laurels; because, while there is no change, there is a dif-

ference. We, as Muslims, should

now be ready to step in place to make progress. This is NOT

Obama’s job; his creed is not the

same as ours; therefore, we must now become responsible for the

wellbeing of faith, or what we are

affectionately calling “hope.” Who better to show the world than us

So now I ask you: where is

your mystique? Why are they not looking at us as the leaders of

their future? Why are they de-serving of our attention but not

the other way around? The truth

is they aren’t. Everyday we do something that leaves more ripple

effects on the world as a whole,

that a president could not and would not. We are all “Better than

President.” It’s simply a matter of us being able to see these ripples

as tangible. That’s why in an “Anti

-Voters” attempt to be proactive and counterbalance my not vot-

ing, a few of us have created our own “campaign”— a worldly cam-

paign. No votes, only prayers and

dua’a. And there is no exclusion with the idea being that, if you

could track your ripples through-

out the world, if you could some-how calculate and tally up your

change in the world, would you

then need this system, would you then need a President or better

yet a vote? The accountability would then be on you, right? And

isn’t this what we want? Need? I

don’t know about you, but I figure it’s about time I found someway

to share my wealth and show my

worth with my own system, not the system I was born into but

the system I was born with. And

no, one may never get millions of people to recant there votes, I

learned that very early on in my

knocked down, dragged out de-bates with people of very strong

minds; but maybe, just maybe, one can get people to be better

than their votes. Better than

President campaign! Further de-tails coming soon! Join Up,

Join Us!

(Continued from page 3)

So Where’s Our Mystique?

hadith / duaa of the week Submitted by Eman Haggag

Being Mindful

The Messenger of God (may peace be upon him) said:

"Be mindful of God, and you will find God in front of you. Acknowledge God in ease, and God will acknowledge you in distress. And know that what misleads you will never enable you to do right, and what enables you to

do right will never mislead you. And know that help comes with patience, and that relief comes with distress; and that with difficulty comes ease.”

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 5

by Sana Javed

personal experiences

To My Beloved Muslim Community:

I want to share with you a

pressing concern. This is a concern regarding a dangerous prejudice

that devilishly weaves itself into our minds, and wedges biases and

damaging conclusions between our

hearts. Now, this preju-dice I am referring to is

not one that we often

encounter while watch-ing ignorant news chan-

nels; rather, it is one

that is prevalent, sadly, in the midst of Muslim

communities. The op-pression I would like to

bring your attention to

is regarding women and hijab. This oppression

exists, not against the

women who choose to wear hijab, but in fact,

against those who do not.

Undeniably, modesty is an in-tegral part of Islam. Muslims

should strive to attain the levels of

modesty exemplified by the role models that Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem

has shown us – for example, Maryam, Mother of Isa, may peace

be upon her and the very Prophet

Muhammad himself, may peace be upon him.

Yet, as important as modesty

is, it is nowhere near important enough to allow for the scrutiny of

women who do not wear hijab.

This is unacceptable. Too often, sisters who do not wear the head-

scarf have encountered harsh, critical remarks. And for some rea-

son, people believe this type of behavior towards fellow Muslims is

acceptable. We would never con-

done prejudice against women who do wear the hijab, so why

have we become so silent and pas-sive against the mistreatment of

women who do not?

The headscarf was never

meant to be a physical manifesta-tion of one’s faith; therefore, it

should stop being treated as such.

One of the beauties of modesty, as I have understood, is that it strives

to counter the emphasis on the physical that is embedded within

our society. Unfortunately, when

the emphasis is placed on a head-scarf, and not on elements such as

Tawhid or Salah, we digress back

to the marginalization of women with the awe of hair, simply re-

placed by the admiration of the

headscarf. Why is it that women who do not normally cover on a

daily basis feel the need and the pressure to cover only when they

attend meetings or halaqas? We have created such an emphasis on

hijab, it is as if it has become the

unspoken sixth pillar of Islam. Without doubt, this concern

applies to both men and women. Both genders are guilty of assum-

ing a sister with a headscarf to be

more pious, Islamically knowl-edgeable, modest, and God-

fearing, etc. The hijab is not the

Islamic equivalent of a litmus test of faith for women, just as a

beard and a kufi are not for

men. Striving against the injus-

tices against Muslim women is two-fold. While we work to dis-

mantle ignorance and miscon-

ceptions in the non-Muslim world, let us not forget that we

must do the same within our

own communities. Therefore, my beloved Mus-

lims, let us try to keep this simple

reminder in our thoughts and in our actions as we welcome new

Muslims each and every day into

our midst. Too many countless and nameless people have been

scorned, and the burden to correct our mistakes and prevent them

from happening again lies on our

shoulders. As someone once said to me, “We need to focus more on

what is in our heads, rather than

what is on our heads.”

Peace and Blessings.

Submit your very own Letters to the Editor at msa.nur@gmail.com!!

Letters to the Editor: A Different Kind of Oppression

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 6

New Video Game Hits Shelves

by Manaar Zuhurudeen

Bilal Bilali is your average Mus-

lim youth. He fasts during Rama-

dan, makes wudu 20 times per day, knows 30 juz of the Qur'an

(mashaAllah), and he absolutely loves playing video games. "My

favorite one right now is the new

'Need for Creed 786: The White Robed Warrior'. You get to fight

Jinns! The bad ones, of course," he

told the Ceramic Miswak staff. The game involves taking on a male or

female Muslim character, draping

them in your favorite variation of seamless white cloth, and arming

them with a Quran and miswak. Players then have to use their

knowledge of the Qur'an and sun-

nah to block the acts of shayateen and not commit sins.

Kids seem to love the game. It

hit the shelves last Wednesday and stores like Halal Goodz and Muftis-

R-Us are already giving out rain

checks. It has gotten positive feedback from the local imams, as

well. Sheikh Ehnbaykh even gave

a fatwa on it. "Ya3ni, our youth

today don't watch enough TV.

They spend their days kida – doing

homework, at Pizza Roma's, going to seminars. What about all the

Islamic knowledge available through the TV? Some of my col-

leagues call it a Shaytan Box... I

call it a Sheikh-makin' box!" If only this game were 100%

popular. A few adults of the com-munity have identified some of its

adverse effects: although the

game makes Muslim kids aware of the other beings and evils

of this world, parents have com-

plained that it makes their kids blindly flail their arms and whack

at the air around them, screaming

"Take THAT, you mean jinn, you!" Bilali thinks parents are just

overreacting. "I mean, it's not too bad. If people see us warding off

jinns in real life the way we do for

the game, they think we're either really religious or that we actually

see jinns... in which case they run

for cover." says Bilali. "Whenever my mom threatens to take the

game away from me, I remind her

of how much Qur'an I've memo-rized!"

The Ceramic Miswak: Satirical Articles

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 7

creative writing

by Eman Haggag

Dude... I’m Right Here

If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me.

They should therefore respond to Me and believe in Me so that hopefully they will be rightly guided.

{Surat al-Baqara: 186}

al-Nur Volume 13, Issue 3

Page 8 T H E M U S L I M S T U D E N T S ’

A S S O C I A T I O N

University of Maryland, College Park

Box 44, Stamp Student Union

College Park, MD 20742

[ umcp_msa@yahoo.com ]

[ www.msaumd.org ]

President: Ridwanur Rahman VP: Abdul Saboor Khan VP Sis’ Aff.: Nadia El-Hillal Masjid Aff.: Mouhamad Diabate

PR: Sana Javed

Secretary: Tubah Sultan

Treasurer: Adam Stephenson

President: Eman Haggag VP: Sanjana Quasem Secretary: Manaar Zuhurudeen Treasurer: Kadiatu Bah PR: Reem Dughly SGA Liaison: Shabnom Khan

. Newsletter Staff

Editor-in-Chief Zeynep Özer Co-Editors Shayma M. Al-Hanooti Kadiatu Bah Eman Haggag Anam Tariq Manaar Zuhurudeen Staff Writers: Mahvish Ameen Kadiatu Bah Nurideen Bashir Eman Haggag Sana Javed Tubah Sultan Manaar Zuhurudeen

The views and opinions expressed in al-Nur

are solely those of the writers and do not

necessarily reflect the views and opinions of

the editing staff or of the MSA.

by Eman Haggag

Unearthed

creative writing

They said I should be ac-tive, And they asked me, well just now, How do you prepare a fu-ture, For young children, what to plow? As I sat there all day pon-dering, I saw some people say some stuff: "Oh it's lame, that thought, it's rough, it's tough, How can we relate, oh sigh huff puff, ENOUGH! I said, that's all just bluff! You can say all things that's obvious, How to directly affect, Our Ummah in the future, Common sense, "duh" intel-lect, Build a masjid, Have a bookstore, Make a Sunday school that works! Useful websites, Helpful lawyers, I'll go on till I'm berserk! But before I go off tangent, How bout pause, think, and rewind, Way back when Allah cre-ated, The whole world and all mankind, How did our god adjust Adam, To the new land's perfect frames? Did he not teach our first prophet, Every object had a name?

He instilled in Adam knowl-edge, Powerful and strong founda-tions, A circumference of his deed abroad, For future civilizations, So, in relevance to our own state, There is a point that I must make: It's great to think of meth-ods, To creatively supply, Our young minds with these projects, Just to pump Islamic pride, But without that needed base, Essential knowledge on Is-lam, In the future dreams will crush down, And we'll wake in one big jam, Can you imagine when you're parents, And your kids go "Oh dad, hey, Sunday school is cool, but can you explain... "Umm listen...kid...no se?" NO! We need to start get going, Attain swift and quick know-how, Be accountable, you're just young once, Idle time we can't allow, So pledge allegiance to Al-lah, And who you want to be, Represent Islam, set goals in life, And I can guarantee,

That Allah will never let you down, So learn Islam, your field, You're a farmer now, get down and plow, I promise, stuff will yield, Associate perfection, Never only take, but give, Talents handed to society, Our deen to strive and live, Our children need those bright roads, We must all at once begin, To hold on real fast to Al-lah's rope, And change ourselves within, Yes, I know, I know, I've said too much, Chill, I'm near the finish line,

Just I'd like to end with one last thought, To make our character fine, Our soil should be rich, Every bit fresh and re-newed, Open for those seeds, em-bracing, To grow wondrous good food. But for us to be like that, There's a verse we all must heed, It's a power tool, "Kalamullah" (Allah's words), That's Ayah One revealed, And so I say just one last tip, Advice to plant your seed, You want good results? The sun on your side? In the name of Allah, "READ!"