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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Harvard Grad's Speech: MSA National Press Release |
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| ahmer |
| 06/04/02 at 21:12:27 |
| Harvard Grad's Speech Tries to Reclaim True Meaning of Term "Jihad" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (Washington DC, June 4, 2002). The Executive Committee of the Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada (MSA National) extends its full support to graduating Harvard University student, Zayed Yasin, who will deliver his speech entitled "Of Faith and Citizenship: My American Jihad" as part of Harvard's June 6th, 2002 Commencement Day exercises. A Harvard faculty committee selected Zayed's speech from a very competitive pool of approximately sixty applications. MSA National commends Harvard University for its decision, and fully supports Zayed's intentions to connect essential Islamic principles with true American ideals. Zayed, who was born in Chicago and grew up in Scituate, a Boston Suburb, will be graduating with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and is a former president of the Harvard Islamic Society, the Muslim student organization on campus. He has excelled as a leader in the community and has diligently worked on issues of social justice and public welfare. Among his many projects, Zayed has worked overseas to relieve the suffering of Kosovar refugees. As president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Friends of the American Red Cross, he has managed and led crisis response teams that aid disaster victims in Boston-area emergencies. He is also a trained emergency medical technician who has served on an ambulance team. For his extraordinary devotion to public service, Zayed has won a prestigious Stride Rite Fellowship, which he will use to travel to Pakistan to help improve health care technology for the poor. Although the text of Zayed's speech will not be made public until it is delivered on Thursday, June 6th Zayed has publicly stated that it is "a speech about the privileged opportunities and responsibilities we have as graduates...and about how these are enunciated in both the Islamic concept of jihad and in American ideals." In his public statements, he also noted that the important message the speech imparts is that "we live in difficult and trying times and we will have to struggle both within ourselves to do the right thing and with very difficult problems that affect our communities." Alarmist reactions to the term "jihad" (an Islamic concept referring to a 'just struggle' against both one's own evil inclinations and against oppression and injustice externally) have led certain members of the Harvard campus and from certain outlets of the national media to launch unwarranted deceptive personal attacks against Zayed and to attempt to block the delivery of Zayed's speech. Contrary to their insinuations, Zayed has publicly and vociferously condemned violence against innocent civilians, and has never supported terrorism or terrorist organizations. We object to attempts at stifling his discussion of a foundational principle of his faith. Following the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, the American media and other self-styled experts on Islam and Middle East Studies further distorted the meaning of the term "jihad, " aided in their misguided efforts by a few individuals purporting to speak on behalf of the Islamic community around the world. Zayed has said that he is "trying to reclaim the word for its true meaning, which is inner struggle, both for an individual to do right within oneself and externally for social justice." We unequivocally condemn attacks on innocent life and uphold the ideal that such acts are not jihad nor are they to be unfairly connected with Islam in any way. We applaud Zayed's intent to promote a true understanding of the Islamic principle of jihad as a just struggle and to connect it to a broader set of universal values that all Americans must struggle to achieve both individually and collectively during these difficult times. We realize that this must be a very challenging time for Zayed amidst the controversy over his speech. He has answered concerns in the national media with great patience, wisdom, and poise and in so doing, he has represented the Muslim community extremely well. MSA National stands by him in full solidarity as we look forward to listening to his speech and wish him the greatest success in his future endeavors. There are an estimated 7 million Muslims in America and 1.2 billion worldwide. There are over 500 Muslim student organizations on campuses in North America. Contact: Altaf Husain 703-731-6721 president@msa-national.org Lubabah Abdullah vpusa@msa-national.org |
| Re: Harvard Grad's Speech: MSA National Press Rele |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 06/05/02 at 11:17:55 |
ASalamu Alykum, SubhanAllah, I can't wait to read the actual text of the speech. :-X |
| Re: Harvard Grad's Speech: MSA National Press Rele |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 06/07/02 at 22:46:21 |
Asalamu Alykum wa rhamatuAllah, I just heard him speakkkk :) subhanAllah.. amazing bro http://web.mit.edu/bhelal/www/ :-X :-X :-X |
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