Eastern Michigan University's Muslim Student Association went to the Ann Arbor Arboretum for a nature hike on Saturday. About five people attended.
The MSA is under a restructuring phase, which the association's president, Mohammed Nouadir, wants to continue through the next semester.
“Make it more fun, more active,” Nouadir said.
The MSA wants to continue offering prayer services, events and a proposed class called Islam 101. Islam 101 would be an informative class about the religion with the goal to dispel myths and inform non-Muslims about the realities of the religion.
“I'd like to see them have a lot more events,” Souad Ali, a junior majoring in nutrition, said. “A lot more events that invite Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Indeed, Nouadir said his plans include tutoring sessions open to people of any religion. The proposed Islam 101 class is intended to be about “educating people about the peaceful nature of Islam.”
“We can't lie to ourselves and tell ourselves that everybody's ok with Islam and Muslims,” Nouadir said. “There is a fear.”
The goal is to start having major events every month. And there will be one event, of some kind, every week. For the major monthly events, Nouadir said he'd seek funding from Student Government.
So far the five major events planned include Fast-a-Thon. This happens around Ramadan. People of faith fast all day and there is a major dinner at the end. There will also be a Convert Dinner and Eid al-Fitr dinner. Eid al-Fitr is a major Muslim religious holiday at the end of Ramadan.
There will also be an Interfaith Dinner and Hijab Week. Hijab Week has been happening at Eastern for several years now. It is where female EMU students and staff members are encouraged to wear a hijab for a whole day, just to see what it's like.
“I hope it goes the way it's going, but in an upward direction,” said junior public relations and interdisciplinary communications major Loujain Kouider. “I see it going that direction. I have really high expectations for the board because I know them personally and I've seen them do good things.”
