The Graduation Edition

Volume 19 ● Issue 6 ● May 2012 ● Jumada al Thani 1433

with

Mini Autograph Book

Contents

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The Graduation Edition

12 10

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Education Committee

By Nadia Babaa

Featured Congrats Grads!

MSA Graduates

Mini Autograph Book

Sports and Social Committee

By Nael Babaa and Anam Siddiqui

Committee BLURBz II

Outreach Committee

By Salimatu Jalloh

Dawah Committee

By Najeff Waseem

Lifestyle Learning Outside the Classroom

By Anonymous

Lifestyle Earthquake Aftershock

By Fatimah Waseem

Committee BLURBz III

Academic Year Wrap Up!

Collage

Committee BLURBz I

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As’Salaamu Alaikum and Happy End of the Semes-ter! Like you, Al-Nur is chang-ing. 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, cam-pus-wide Muslim publica-tion of the University of Maryland, College Park. This project is inspired by the re-sponse of Muslims and non-Muslims across campus to the advertisements by Facts and Logic About the Middle

East (FLAME) in the Dia-mondback just last se-mester. We at Al-Nur have truly realized that action can trumpet words. Al-Nur is looking for a dedicated team of indi-viduals (especially fresh-man) in making Al-Nur campus-wide a reality. We expect to reach out to the Muslim Link as well as existing minority stu-

dent-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:

Layout Designers:

Writers/Contributors:

Sofia Beg

Hager Elgendi

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A Special Thanks to:A Special Thanks to:A Special Thanks to:

Bushrah Rahman

Fatimah Waseem

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

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

Sheima Gimie

Somayah Albadawi

Mefruz Haque

Lifestyle

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 bed-

rooms, 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 rec-

ognize how much I had been given?

Recently I shadowed a pediatric neuropsychologist who specialized in concussion re-

covery and treatment, and I was taken aback by the astonishing amount of information the pa-

tients’ parents knew – all prepared to spit out information regarding the doctors they’ve con-

sulted, 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 spe-

cialized 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 pediat-

rics, 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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Learning Outside the Classroom

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 push-

ing 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 sin-

gle 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 descrip-

tions of earthquakes in the Quran… earthquakes which will lead to the Last Day. In Surah 99, Ayah 1-3, Al-

lah 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 did-

n’t report any aftershocks of this earthquake.

But I can.

6

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 direc-

tion. 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 mat-

tered 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.

Abu Darda(RA) narrated that Allah’s Messen-

ger (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

of the Month

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HADITH

Committee BLURBz I

EDUCATION COMMITTEE NADIA BABAA

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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

Seitu Sulayman Kokayi

Mustafa Mohammad

Hammad Rasul

Saad Rehman

Alireza Saboori

Bilal Tariq

Ibrahim Taufique

Rush Tin

Najeff Waseem

Areeb Quasem

Khuzaymah Abbasi

Rushain Abbasi

Uzair Syed Ahmed

Abdulrahman Alfaifi

Ibrahim Alyahya

Ahmad Arbaboun

Bilal Atyia

Nael Babaa

Omar Dughly

Kadija Koroma

Tasneem Mahmoud

Tara Mohammed

Asmaa Muneer

Shamma Natour

CLASS OF 2012 Spring 2012

Spring 2012

Fall

20

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Autographs

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Sports and Social Committee NAEL BABAA & ANAM SIDDIQUI

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 post-

Jumah 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 feel-

ing the pressure of newlyweds, sharing a delicious

homemade breakfast-for-lunch, facing off in FIFA tour-

naments, 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

made everything an adventure, and to the marvelous

MSA members who showed up and made S&S a suc-

cess.

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 emphati-

cally, “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 time-

consuming, it was stressful, but it was all worth it be-

cause in the end, we got to see the smiles on every-

one’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 co-

heads, and all the magnificent MSA’ers who helped

me achieve my wildest dreams and more this semes-

ter!

Committee BLURBz II

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 inspira-

tion 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 Alham-

dulillah. 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 some-

thing 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.)

When I started leading the Dawah Committee, I used to

think there was something perfect I should say to a non-

Muslim to bring them into Islam. It wasn't until week af-

ter 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 knowledge-

able or the most pious and closed off for us normal Mus-

lims. Ironically, I only recently learned dawah means invita-

tion. Since we all share this gift of Islam, then shouldn't

we all send invites?

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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 Net-

work 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 incor-

porating 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.

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 ac-

tivities 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 initia-

tives, whether they were outreach or dawah or individ-

ual initiatives our brothers and sisters were doing to

spread awareness on various issues. But, most impor-

tantly, I learned how important it is to incorporate our-

selves into campus life, and participate in different ac-

tivities 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”.

Committee BLURBz III

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You can find this issue and more online!

www.issuu.com/alnur

The Graduation Edition

Volume 19 ● Issue 5 ● May 2012 ● Jumada al Thani 1433