send an email to a good reporter :)

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send an email to a good reporter :)
se7en
01/03/02 at 05:48:18

from br Altaf Hussain, president of MSA National:

=====

Assalamu alaykum

I invite you to send a brief one line thank you to Elizabeth Bell of
the San
Francisco Chronicle for helping cast Muslim students in a positive
light.
From my conversations with her, it became obvious that she was someone
who
wanted to let us tell our story.

She saw the initial AP story
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13019-2001Dec21.html)  
as
something negative and damaging to the Muslim student community. But
she did
not just complain, she made sure that her editor did not run that story
in
the San Francisco Chronicle. She then began her own search for the
truth
about Muslim students. Read the article for yourself. I believe her
article
was timely and really something quite helpful for many people who were
left
confused and somewhat suspicious of what MSA chapters are really about.

Take a minute today to send a brief thank you to Elizabeth Bell.
E-mail Elizabeth Bell at ebell@sfchronicle.com

Wassalamu alaykum
altaf


WAR ON TERRORISM
On the College Front
Muslim student organizations say they're misunderstood
Some groups fear being persecuted for raising funds
Elizabeth Bell, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2001
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/12/30/MN129435.DTL

One of the first things Samrana Ihsan did when she got to college was
track
down the Muslim Students Association, so she could join her fellow
students
in prayer, friendship and outreach to dispel misconceptions about her
religion.

As vice president of the Muslim student group at the University of
California at Davis, she's helped raise money for Afghan refugees,
organized
lectures on Muslim culture, and invited members of local churches to
join
Muslim students in breaking the Ramadan fast.

Muslim Student Associations, called MSAs, exist on college campuses
across
the country, but in recent weeks students like Ihsan feel they've come
under
suspicion. Media reports and some government officials have speculated
that
some campus groups might be wittingly or unwittingly funneling money to
terrorists.

"Many of us are really starting to feel there's this witch hunt
starting.
It's all right to be Muslim, but to be Muslim and active, you're going
to
get in trouble," said Muhammed Esam, an officer with the Islamic
Society of
Stanford University.

Larry Johnson, a former deputy director in the State Department's
Office of
Counter Terrorism, was quoted recently as saying student groups should
be
monitored for ties to terrorist groups.

George Vinson, anti-terrorism adviser to Gov. Gray Davis and a former
FBI
agent, said FBI officials are probably investigating whether student
groups
have raised money for foundations thought to support terrorists.

"It's a common sense, logical place for an investigation to move, but
you
have to have information and evidence. You can't just willy-nilly go
into
every Muslim student organization," Vinson said.

Agent Frank Scafidi, spokesman with the Sacramento division of the FBI,
said
he can't say whether the bureau is investigating specific student
groups. He
said the FBI would investigate a student group only if it had some
evidence
to arouse suspicion. And Muslim student groups contacted by The
Chronicle
said they have not been contacted by the FBI.

Students, however, say speculation that they are actively working to
support
terrorists is absurd. They worry it's hurting the image of groups that
are
more focused on the social and spiritual needs of members than with
fund-
raising or politics.

The national Muslim Student Association, the umbrella group for campus
chapters, has begun receiving hate mail based on reports alleging that
it is
openly raising money for groups suspected of supporting terrorists.

The group says that is false, and students feel their side of the story
isn't getting out.

"People just don't know about the good work Muslim students do on
campus,"
said Ghaith Mahmood, a student at the University of California in Los
Angeles and vice president of MSA West, which includes all California
chapters.

Eight years ago, UCLA's chapter organized a free health clinic in South
Central Los Angeles that has served about 5,000 poor people of all
religions. Muslim students volunteer at the clinic and tutor students
in
local schools, said Mahmood.

But recent media attention has focused on the fact that the chapter had
run
ads in their publication soliciting donations for Muslim foundations
whose
assets were frozen by the government for allegedly supporting
terrorists.

Mahmood points out that the foundations had existed for many years and
won
the trust of many Muslims for supporting hospitals, orphans, widows and
schools in poor Islamic nations. The foundations had paid for a year's
ads
up front, and the student newspaper was honoring the contract, Mahmood
said.

"We've been placing ads for them for years. It's like Time magazine
putting
an ad for the Red Cross and all of a sudden someone says the Red Cross
is a
terrorist organization," said Mahmood.

Anti-terrorism adviser Vinson said students may have unwittingly given
money
to charities that funnel money to terrorists. Muslim students at
California
campuses said they haven't much time to raise funds for anyone at all.

Students at the University of California at Berkeley said they raised
money
a couple of years ago for earthquake victims in Turkey, but since then
they've been busy with other work.

"We're there to make the campus safe for Muslims to practice their
faith and
just to feel comfortable," said chapter president Basim El Karra.

The chapter held a lecture series on topics like women in Islam. One
day
they handed out 500 hijabs -- the veils worn by many Muslim women --
and
non- Muslim students wore them to show their solidarity with their
Muslim
peers.

At UC Davis, students raised money for Afghan refugees this year,
funneling
the proceeds through the U.N.-registered organization Islamic Relief.
But
otherwise, the group hasn't done fund-raisers in recent years.

"I think the point of MSA is to just educate people about the basics of
Islam and clear up the misperceptions," said Ihsan, the UC Davis
student.

This semester, Stanford's club sponsored a Ramadan dinner for the whole
community, a widely attended open forum to discuss Islam and talks in
dorms
to increase understanding of their beliefs.

National chapter president Altaf Husain said students' fund-raising
efforts
are meant only to help the poor.

"We're the second generation, we have been raised here, you can sense
our
balance of priorities," said Husain. "We look to the social welfare of
our
neighbors, Muslims and non-Muslims, but we never forget there are just
as
many Muslims around the world who are in need of our assistance."

E-mail Elizabeth Bell at ebell@sfchronicle.com.

©2001 San Francisco Chronicle   Page A - 6


Re: send an email to a good reporter :)
AyeshaZ
01/03/02 at 21:47:07

Asalamu Alykum Wa RahmatuAllah,

JazakumAllahu Khair se7en!!! nice article definitely will share with my Msa family :)... InshaAllah i'll e-mail Elizbeth Bell..

WaSalamz
Re: send an email to a good reporter :)
alzinjibar
01/04/02 at 09:34:20
Bismillah Wa salatu wa salam ala'a Rasul Karim,
As salam alaykum,
sister Se7en Mash'Allah, you are a precious treasure time and again, mmm i wonder if a box of Belgian Chocolate , or a Bouquet to thank you will be ok, for we can only make dua for you to The Mercifull.
Re: send an email to a good reporter :)
se7en
01/05/02 at 01:53:25
wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatAllah,

wow.. if I knew that I'd be offered chocolate for posting, I'd have posted *a lot* more often :)

Jazak Allahu khayran for your kind offer ya akhi.  I'd love for you to make dua for me and my family.

take care :)

wasalaamu alaykum :)

ps - Elizabeth Bell wrote back to me.. she seems like a very cool person :)

Re: send an email to a good reporter :)
Laboogie
01/05/02 at 03:32:59
[slm]


ummmm, u can direct those chocolates to sis.Laboogie's address, thank you very much---and anyone who would like to send se7en any thank you mail (chocolate, flowers, money,etc.) u need to send it to me first...as a policy of la godmothers all mail needs to go through godmother Laboogie (security reasons)....;)


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