A brief history of MSA - UNO

The history of Muslim Students’ Associations is a rich and diverse one. It is a great blessing and honor to be able to practice Islam and pursue one's worldly education at the same time. Indeed, these activities are not mutually exclusive, since seeking knowledge is one of the commandments from God to a Muslim and Muslimah. Being a Muslim or Muslimah at a Western university is a challenge and thankfully, there are other Muslim students who we can unite with.

These other Muslims provide support so that we can practice our religion and avoid some of the sinful temptations (fitnah) that can cause one to go astray in an oftentimes un-Islamic environment. It is very important to join together with other Muslim students, to encourage them to participate in Islamic activities, and to support each other in both our educational and religious obligations. For example, by having fellow Muslims with us on campus we can both study together and offer the obligatory salat prayers together.

In light of this Muslim Students Associations are a vital social group for Muslims to socialize with each other, to learn about Islam, and to teach others about Islam. We have a big duty to both teach and live Islam, and we need to remember that actions speak louder than words. Now we shall explore our MSA's history briefly.

The MSA at the University of New Orleans has existed since at least the 1970s. The Muslim students and faculty members would get together to perform prayers and have social activities. I wasn't born at that time so I can't tell you 100%, anyways, let me fast forward. Since the beginning of MSA - UNO's existence, the main activity that would bring together all Muslims was the Friday prayer. In the early 80s, the Friday prayer was held at the Newman Center. It was very generous of the Newman Center’s clergy to allow the Muslims to pray there. However, this was mainly a Christian place of worship, and as such was not ideal for the Muslims to pray in.

Thus, the Muslims realized the need for their own house of worship, and in 1985 Masjid al-Ghurabaa was built. Muslim students and faculty were the driving force in both funding and helping to build it. This mosque was the focal point of social gatherings among the Muslim men (women usually would meet in homes), who would all congregate there for the Friday(Jumuah) prayer, and also for nightly activities. This mosque was originally built as a low-lying structure covered by a huge tree. Unfortunately, the roof wasn't very strong and often leaked, and the low foundation made the mosque very prone to flooding.

So a new mosque was needed in place of this one, and so this masjid was torn down and rebuilt to look like this around 2004( here is a pic from median across street and here is a pic from inside). This new mosque was more visible to the outside, because by this time the huge tree was gone. It was a small, cozy mosque that was just large enough to accommodate all the men for the Friday prayers(In Islam, women do not have to offer their prayers in the mosque, and in this case physical limitations didn't allow it). At this time the MSA was a multiethnic and large group of people. The president and many members were international students, and the general body meetings would often fill up. Let us fast forward to the year 2005.

Then in Fall of 2005, the fateful hurricane struck our region. The local Muslim community, like the greater community, suffered many losses in terms of property and finances. Alhamdullilah though, none passed away because of Katrina. Many had to leave and relocate, but overall the community was OK because Masjid Abu(in Metairie)-Bakr, the main mosque here, was in very good condition. But the masjid right across from UNO on Waldo, Masjid al-Ghurabaa, however, was totally demolished by the storm's deadly water. Good thing it didn't have any high-tech sound system and LCD TVs inside. I still recall walking with a brother on top of the foundation of the mosque, a jumble of broken wood, carpets, glass, and plastic. We located a metal file cabinet the MSA had only a few months before had purchased, and it was already rusting. Inside all the documents and

books were totally soggy and molded, everything ruined. But a bigger loss than the material loss was that many of our active MSA people had to leave, drastically reducing our numbers.

But thanks to God, some of us managed to come back. And we didn't let our reduced numbers discourage us. It is not mere numbers that makes an MSA strong, but the people that comprise it. And alhamdullilah(thanks to God) our MSA is still active and conducting activities and participating in the important process of rebuilding this area. Hopefully a new and more sturdy mosque will be built soon, as plans have been made and there is already funding in place. This will take at least another six months though to complete. In the meantime MSA students offer their Friday prayers at the Islamic Center on St. Claude, near downtown New Orleans. We still pray the other prayers in the 3rd floor in the back by the federal documents, however.

To conclude, Alhamdullilah there has been a consistent effort here to participate in dawah activities and bring together Muslims in MSA activities. We have much work to do, and we need as many peoples' help as we can get. May Allah accept our efforts.

All praise goes to Allah for whatever was written that is correct, and all mistakes are my own.

Send all inquiries regarding errors or questions relating to this to the author, Adel- arazzamATunoDOTedu