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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| MSA executives |
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| void |
| 03/26/02 at 13:45:21 |
| [slm] quite a while back, there was a post regarding an MSA president not observing proper Islamic adab in his dealings with females. (ie. flirting etc) it was suggested that we should not concern ourselves with the level of taqwa msa execs observe and that such issues should be handled according to constitutional guidelines. i understand that interference with an exec member's personal life in places where msa is not being represented should not be tolerated. however, if msa execs are neglecting their responsibilities and failing to implement the constitutional objectives of an msa, then should't this be grounds for repremanding their behaviour? for example, if an msa constitution includes "encouraging and facilitating the practise of islam on campus" as one of it's orginizational goals, and in addition..."positively educating the campus community about islam"...how can organized and "professional" exec members give dawah if their knowledge of islam is deficient. the best dawah is through example, but if for example we observe msa executives openly bumping shoulders, shaking hands with opposite gender etc...isn't that a cause for concern? is it surprising that msa executives that hold private, ghettoized lunch/social hours with brothers and sisters fail to provide their community with a half decent Jumu`ah service let alone adacemic services and communtity service efforts. why publish fancy msa pamphlets that boast about the establishment of prayer facilities and halal food services if there is no effort to see that those conveneinces are being utliized. [that was a little harsh, and i don't mean to undermine the hard work our brothers and sisters engage in...but what happens typically is that you have a generation of very active msa execs that work for the needs of ummah...but once they graduate from the msa scene, their less active successors take the credit for things they never did] in almost every msa, intermingling is allowed and is not even an issue because most ppl feel "intimidated" if there is any effort to implement more conservative hijab. what is inappropriate, however, is when bro's and sis's on the executive chat about favourite movies and actors while preparing a banner on a lecture about jihad an-nafs. isn't it our understanding that if our intentions are impure, or we don't practise what we preach...then we shouldn't expect any results? the msa needs to question their efforts when they discover that nobody shows up to the lecture or arrivals only begin to pour in when the food is being served indeed msa does not stand for "mulllah student association", but in our efforts to "tone down" the level of "islamic obersvance" to make msa less intimidating, we must strive to be strict on ourselves and easy on others. in my community, alhamdulillah, most college msa's are not facing these challenges. however, in some cases, the level of tolerance to this sort of nonsense surpassed a certain threshhold, and after months of complaining, msa national has finally intervened. there is no quick fix, but insha Allah we should all be concerned about what happens to our MSAs after the active workers graduate. has anyone else expereinced this? even if not, any ideas, suggestions, comments? [wlm] |
| Re: MSA executives |
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| ahmer |
| 03/26/02 at 14:14:25 |
| [quote] in almost every msa, intermingling is allowed and is not even an issue because most ppl feel "intimidated" if there is any effort to implement more conservative hijab. [/quote] i just have a lil time to comment on this... more detailed reply later insha'Allah.. it depends on how you define 'intermingling', MSAs in our area all have a separate setup of sisters and brothers, like they handle their own affairs. What we did at our school was to create a position of 'women's coordinator' under the newly approved constitution adapted from msa national. alhumdolillah once we got a women's coordinator, every thing sisters do is streamlined, they dont' need to get back to us on anything except the shura meeting where the decisions are made. This has really helped. The intermingling depends on the number of MSA members. If it is a large MSA then ofcourse there can be separate sisters and brothers area. But a lot of MSAs haven't got a lot of sisters. Alhumdolillah in our area the muslim student population is big enough that we can run a parallel setup in our MSA. Even if you can't have separate setup, you can hold sisters' halaqas in your college. It definitely helped us... The sisters got a learned sister to speak on their problems and masha'Allah their attendance was double the brothers halaqa..:) but certainly you can't generalize every MSA.. there is a lot of good in a person even if he just comes in the MSA office.:).. you just have to apply a lot of wisdom in explaining them what you think. More later.. [wlm] ahmer |
| 03/26/02 at 14:15:09 |
| ahmer |
| Re: MSA executives |
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| ahmer |
| 03/26/02 at 20:20:45 |
| [quote] is it surprising that msa executives that hold private, ghettoized lunch/social hours with brothers and sisters fail to provide their community with a half decent Jumu`ah service let alone adacemic services and communtity service efforts. [/quote] it is indeed surprisingfor me to hear that this actually happens!!!, i mean the most basic thing is to provide a space for Muslim students to pray jummah at campus. And if this is not happenning, then there is something really going wrong. 1. You should bring this up with the execs, email them and highlight this issue. Do it in the best possible way 2. if 1 doesn't help, let the community know of this situation, and quite often the pressure of the community forces MSAs to be on the correct path. 3. the last resort is to contact MSA national. They are a very committed dedicated group of people who put all the time in this effort. I mean being seriously understaffed, they are overwhelmed with workload. So it might take some time for them to act. MSA national is a loosely netted organization and the chapters are not affiliated in the real sense, though they have some kinda leverage on issues. [quote] why publish fancy msa pamphlets that boast about the establishment of prayer facilities and halal food services if there is no effort to see that those conveneinces are being utliized. [that was a little harsh, and i don't mean to undermine the hard work our brothers and sisters engage in...but what happens typically is that you have a generation of very active msa execs that work for the needs of ummah...but once they graduate from the msa scene, their less active successors take the credit for things they never did] [/quote] The MSA cycle is much talked about, Every MSA goes through a lean period, where there is nothing happenning and it is the responsibility of the active MSA workers to train their juniors so that they can learn and perpetuate the work. Now 'if the less active successors take the credit for things they never did', nothing can be really done about it. Let them take credit, i mean all credit is for Allah. Allah says in surah Anakaboot, 'And if any strive (with might and main), they do so for their own souls: for Allah is free of all needs from all creation. ' Allah knows what they did and will reward them. Don't think about it..:) [quote] isn't it our understanding that if our intentions are impure, or we don't practise what we preach...then we shouldn't expect any results? the msa needs to question their efforts when they discover that nobody shows up to the lecture or arrivals only begin to pour in when the food is being served [/quote] lol... :).. from our experience, food is not a good motivation cuz MSAs are soo poor when it comes to serving food.. in fact the speaker is a big motivation. If you can get a really good speaker, the room is filled up before the event starts. your words reflect the state of quite a few MSAs, and i am sure that your heart is concerned at this which itself is a good sign. Try to change the things slowly applying all your hikmah to the issues. I have seen that if one person is sincere and wants to change the situation, Allah helps. forgive me if i offended you in anyway.. ma'salam ahmer |
| 03/26/02 at 20:21:44 |
| ahmer |
| Re: MSA executives |
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| void |
| 03/27/02 at 00:39:54 |
| assalamu alaikum br. Ahmer, jazak Allahu khairan for taking the time to reply... you did not offend me in any way, i do admit that i wasn't really able to express my concerns to the msa with proper adab so i usually remained silent but helped with the dinners and iaw etc. 80 % of the exec were first-timers and the leadership assumed office due to late resignation by the prev. year's leadership. therefore, msa alumni members tried to offer naseeha but the current msa deemed executive matters as confidential....so the alumni were never given the opportunity to address their concerns about the condition of the msa. recently, i lost my patience and made it clear to the the msa that they stunk...the year is over and there doesn't seem to be any motivation from the muslims on campus to get involved with msa. msa national is willing to help but again there is no concern from the muslims to get any help. it is really depressing to see the activism fade away on campus and i guess this is just a test from Allah. Insha Allah, I will write more another day... btw, I'm a big fan of MSA-NJIT, Masha Allah keep up the good work and may Allah strengthen the Ummah at NJIT. just wondering, have you checked out the MSA @ University of Tennesse, Knoxville? if not, you must... www.msaknoxville.org whenever i'm feeling a litte down about msa, it warms my heart to know that there are other MSAs like NJIT and UT Knox....may Allah bless you guys and all who work sincerely for His cause. :) jazak Allahu khairan again for your advice. wassalamu alaikum. |
| Re: MSA executives |
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| jannah |
| 03/27/02 at 01:15:28 |
| [slm] bro, I think you are highlighting a problem every MSA goes through. And to make it worse is the fact that it is really difficult to find that balance. While we don't want the MSA to become too rigid and impose restrictive purdahs, we also don't want to make it so loose that there is no observance of islam. The thing is this always depends on the thoughts and practices of those in the MSA. As for the sin wav effect in the highs and lows of an MSA that is quite normal. The trick is to build the constitution in such a way that you can still have a structure and basic running of the MSA even when there are less dedicated people. For example have a clause that the msa exec's must meet every week for a small organizational meeting or that there has to be a halaqa every week and jumuah.etc.. About MSA execs not following certain Islamic things....that's a whole other big issue. Let's say it was a sister instead, who didn't wear hijab... should we not allow her to be involved in the MSA? (I think there was a big thread on this in the past as well) i think maybe the crux of your post is saying that it is wrong for msa members to do islamic work when they are not "practicing what they are working for", and if so i don't agree with that. Anas relates that, "We asked the Prophet, 'O Messenger of Allah, shouldn't we refrain from calling others to goodness if we don't practice all good things ourselves, and shouldn't we refrain from forbidding wrong things until we ourselves have abstained from all the bad?' 'No,' he replied, 'You should call others to goodness even if you don't do all good, and you should forbid bad things even if you don't abstain from all of them yourselves.'" (Al-Tabarani) In my opinion, the bottom line is that there is no perfect Muslim and we really have to accept that., because otherwise what happens is that our MSAs end up letting "extermists" take over because everyone else thinks that they're not good enough, or the MSA loses that Islam quality, because hey if we're not perfect Muslims let's forget about all that stuff and make Islam a culture instead. If we accept that no one is perfect, that we are all struggling in our Islamic practice..I think we can find a way to give naseeha to others when we notice that they're not following Islam correctly. So let's go with the sister who doesn't wear hijab.... would we go up to her and say "sister you don't wear hijab, you're not qualified for this position, get out"..... (well unfortunately i do know this has happenned in the past and probably will happen again)... we shouldn't... why ... because that is 1. bad methodology for naseeha 2. you are alienating someone who is trying to do something good. so then how do we give this sister naseeha?.... via education, role models, maybe some friends speaking directly on the topic, an increase of iman... that's what it takes.... for proof ask hundreds of sisters who have ended up wearing the hijab or finding islam in college....what made them start practicing? in the same way this MSA president brother you're talking about who flirts or whatever. let's figure out the best way to give naseeha in this situation, the best ways to educate him and the people there and i think that is what will improve your MSA overall. |
| Re: MSA executives |
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| Azeem_NYC |
| 07/01/02 at 01:57:46 |
| Asalamualikum... I think that Ehtisaab sessions should be done to correct mistakes.... please read the following... Collective lhtisab (Criticism) Mutual criticism is also a fruitful way of collective reform. Bring to the notice of your fellow workers their faults and shortcomings in a very polite and sincere manner. But be careful as it may prove disastrous if the etiquettes of sincere criticism are not duly observed. The etiquettes of fair criticism are as under: Critiscism should not be made every time and everywhere. Before criticising anybody first examine your own heart considering Allah as a witness whether you are criticising out of sincerity and for the well being or it is motivated due to personal impulse. In the case of the former, the criticism is indeed fully justified otherwise you should hold your tongue and try to get rid of this impurity from your personality. Your words and manner of criticism should make everyone feel that you really want reform and betterment. Be sure that your complaint is based on real and hard facts before criticizing anybody. Baseless criticism without getting sure of its facts is a sin and create disorder. The person who is criticised should give a calm hearing to the complaint, then ponder over it without any prejudice. He should concede to the truth plainly and counter the wrong with impassive reasoning. To get annoyed on criticism shows arrogance and vanity. The criticism, and its rebuttal should not prolong and turn into a permanent altercation. Discussion is worth while till both the viewpoints are duly elaborated but if the matter is not settled, postpone discussion and let both of them reconsider the whole matter coolly and separately. The criticism within such limits is not only helpful but also necessary to set right our social life. No Islamic Jama'ah can keep itself on right direction without such constructive criticism Nobody in the Jama'ah should be above criticism. I regard it indispensable for the stability of the Islamic Movement and I am sure that the day this healthy criticism is stopped, the Movement would succumb to various ills resulting in its destruction. That is why I had always been convening a special meeting after the general meeting of the Jama'ah ever since its inception, to critically assess the whole work of the organization and its structure. In such special meetings I offer myself first for criticism, so that any objection or complaint against me or my performance should be brought openly before all without any hesitation. Either the criticism will correct me, or my explanation will clear the misunderstanding of the critic as well as all those whose thinking are identical. taken from.. http://www.ymofmd.com/books/hidayat/index.htm |
| Re: MSA executives |
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| Kareema_Abdul-Khab |
| 07/02/02 at 04:47:21 |
| [wlm] Disclaimer:All of this applies to a president who is obviously guilty of flirting with his MSA counterparts, and since flirting is a somewhat subjective term, Allah knows best. Also,I'm not saying that he should be thrown out, just alerted to this and given nasiha, he may not even be aware of the problems with this. I think the issue here is that the actions of the MSA Prez is hurting or potentially hurting the very reason that the MSA was started in the first place: to create an [glow=red,2,300]Islamic[/glow] environ that works to further awareness, knowlege,practice etc. An - :-)(non-hijabi)usually doesn't endanger that, as she often is moving toward more Islamic practice and is more influenced by :-)than vice versa, whilst flirting and where it may lead is much more of an ? If it affects the MSA, then it could be subject to investigation. Also, doesn't this pres think he'll be watched a bit more and need to tailor his actions accordingly? By the very nature of what he's doing, he'll be subject to more scrutiny and should expect that. I also don't know of many orgs that see things that specifically go against their core mission and say'Oh darn. I wish we could do something. But we have to be tolerant.Too bad." The degree of flirting would matter here too. And maybe discomfort of the sisters is the only bad effect, but I think that's enough. So, while we certainly need to be cognizant of the impossiblity of perfection, we do need to keep our eyes on the prize and make sure we aren't purposely handicapping our own efforts by refusing to address problems spots as this. |
| 07/02/02 at 04:59:16 |
| Kareema_Abdul-Khab |
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