بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
The Muslim Student Association at the University of California, Davis is a student group united for the sake of God. The mission of the MSA is to create an avenue for Muslim students to meet, exchange ideas, debunk misconceptions, and work to understand and disseminate the true message of Islam as in accordance with the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him). The club is open to members of all religions.
The MSA at UC Davis is hosting an online fundraiser campaign during the 1st 10 Days of the blessed month of Dhul Hijjah.
The MSA at UC Davis strives to create a community-oriented atmosphere for Muslim Students on campus. We are arguably the largest MSA in California, hosting between 400-600 students in a given year!
In order to adequately serve our community, we host a number of academic, spiritual, and social events throughout the year. Our MSA not only serves the muslim community in Davis, but often times our events attract attendees from the Greater Sacramento Region and Bay Area.
Check out a few of the projects and events that we host throughout the year!
Every Ramadan, we invite members of our community to join us and try fasting for the day. In the evening, we host the community on our campus to have a warm presentation and discussion about the essence of Ramadan. We end the night with Maghrib Prayer and of course, iftar! This event is a favorite by the Davis community, and even distinguished professors!
Rush week provides our MSA with an opportunity to invite new students, as well as continuing students to join the Muslim Student Association! During the first week of school, we host a number of events to kick off the year! This includes our mentorship program, general body meeting, Masjid Community BBQ, and brotherhood and sisterhood dinners!
The Eid Banquet is one of our community’s favorite events! Its a wonderful opportunity for students to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha with their fellow Muslim Aggies. Students dress up in their cultural clothes and enjoy a night with their community, featuring nasheeds, entertaining videos, guest speakers, and various activities!
The Dawa’ah and Outreach Committee of the Muslim Student Association strives to build relations with other organizations in order to co-host educational and religious events. This year, students from the Muslim Student Associaton and the Sikh Cultural Association teamed up to educate the UC Davis campus community on what it is like for Muslim women to wear the hijab (headscarf), and Sikh men and women to wear the turban. For all those who pledged to take part in the Turban & Hijab-a-thon, $2 were donated to relief efforts in Nepal and $2 to the ASUCD Food Pantry by the MSA and SCA. Alhamdulillah, we had over 98 participants! The MSA donated $200 to The ASUCD Pantry and the UC Davis Sikh Cultural Association donated $200 to relief efforts in Nepal, totaling $400 in donations!
Islam Awareness Month is an annual series of events aimed at spreading awareness and debunking misconceptions about Islam on our campus. For four weeks, we tackle 4 different topics in the islamic context. This past year the topics we covered during Islam Awareness Month were The Life of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, Women in Islam, Art in Islam, and Islam in America. We also host a number of tabling activities as shown in the pictures above.
In order to support our hard working graduating MSA members, we host the annual Graduation Banquet to honor our seniors. This also serves as the end-of-the-year event for our MSA, celebrating our achievements as a community and remembering the beautiful moments we experienced throughout the year.
With the Grace of Allah SWT, our MSA is sponsoring 4 orphans. This began as an effort to leave an imprint not only on our campus community, but on the international community. Originally the plan was to raise money to sponsor one orphan for a full year, but Alhamdulillah there was barakah in the project and we were successfully able to raise enough money to sponsor 4 orphans through Islamic Relief.
Alhamdulillah our MSA has been able to successfully establish and foster a community in which our members have felt welcomed and are inspired to give back. Our members have been involved in several projects including but not limited to:
– Weekly Islamic knowledge class on campus with our local Imam at the Islamic Center of Davis
– Social events catered to foster healthy relationships between our brotherhood and sisterhood led by our Brother’s and Sister’s Activities Coordinators.
– Development of the Academic Mentorship and Professional Development committee which hopes to ease the transition for students coming in from High School and Community Colleges and providing them with valuable resources for their time in Davis.
– Securing a permanent prayer space for Muslim students on campus as well as halal food in the campus dinning halls.
– Various interfaith events geared to educating the greater Davis community about various Islamic topics. Often times we have collaborated with groups of other faiths.
In addition to the many events we plan throughout the year, here are a few things we are looking to improve.
-Expanding our Academic Mentorship & Professional Development Program (AMPD) to provide quality academic resources for our students.
-Creating outreach programs to High Schools and Community Colleges throughout the Sacramento & Bay Area in order to share what UC Davis has to offer. We plan on hosting our first annual College Day this year.
-Increasing collaboration & support among community members & eliminating barriers of ethnicity and differences.
-Offering support to other student organizations our community members are a part of.
1. Donate on LaunchGood! Any amount counts!!
2. Share our project on social media, using the tools listed.
3. Encourage friends & family members to donate to our MSA!
4. Make dua that we are able to foster & create a community-oriented atmosphere for our current and future Muslim students!
Jazakullah Khair for your time and support. May Allah SWT bless us all with piety & god-consciousness!
Sincerely,
UC Davis MSA Board of Directors 2015-2016