Update 3 (6/21/07) - MuslimMatters.org has an article, “MSA National: We can’t let it die!”
Update 2 (6/20/07) - I have launched an independent study on MSA National in order to properly compile and organize criticism and suggestions.
Update 1 (6/19/07) - Maniac Muslim writes How screwed up is MSA National?
Jinnzaman blogs his reflection to “Is MSA National Dead?”
Everyone knows that MSA National is one of the oldest Muslim organization in America. For all those on the MSA National mailing list you would have received a bunch of emails regarding nominations and elections for the 2007-2008 period. There are two major issues I have with MSA National here:
- Issue #1: Only 6 nominees were selected for 9 positions. The election should have at least 18 nominees, 2 for each position.
- Issue #2: All 6 nominees are sisters! Relax sisters. I have nothing against sisters taking leadership positions, but when there are no brothers involved in such a large scale Muslim organization, I am concerned.
Issue #1
Regarding the first issue, basically what happened was that MSA National sent out a bunch of nominations emails making it seem they were desperate for nominees. Then they finally sent out the ballot and to my surprise, each position only had 1 person running or no one running for it. Usually ballots have people you can vote for not a list of each position with one name next to it.
Let me break it down to you why this seemed so surprising:
- April 25 - Received email regarding nominations, deadline was April 30
- April 27 - Received another email regarding nominations, deadline still April 30
- May 1 - Received an email saying the extended the deadline to May 10
At this point, to me personally, it seemed they were desperate to get nominees - May 11 - Received an email in the morning saying the deadline was extended to May 11 at 11 PM
Now it’s looking realllllyyy desperate. - May 18 - Received an email saying the deadline is extended to May 20
At this point MSA National is a like a 35 year old single brother, never married, trying to find a wife.
After seeing all those emails, I felt they were desperate to get nominees, but when they sent out the email with the ballot, these were the nominees:
- President
- Asma Mirza (Georgetown University)
- Treasurer
- Runda Kuziez (St. Louis University)
- Vice President Canada
- Zeina Sleiman (University of Ottawa)
- Vice President USA
- Hajar Abdul-Rahim (University of Florida-Gainesville)
- East Zone Canada Representative
- No Eligible Nominee at this point in time
- West Zone Canada Representative
- No Eligible Nominee at this point in time
- East Zone USA Representative
- Sumrah Haider (University of Alabama)
- Central Zone USA Representative
- Nura Sediqe (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)
- West Zone USA Representative
- No Eligible Nominee at this point in time
So basically out of all those five emails and a 20 day period of constant changing the deadline for nominations all they got were 6 (and there all sisters!). I find that hard to believe for many reasons. First, literally thousands of people are on the mailing lists. Second, they kept extending the deadline thus more people could have been nominated. Thirdly, people I know were nominated and definitely capable of doing the job at MSA National were not on the ballot.
Issue #2
Shaykh Ramadan al-Bouti said:
The Quran imposes what the Islamic Law calls for the mutual responsibility undertaken by the man and the woman. Thus it makes the man responsible for looking after the woman, and makes the woman responsible for looking after the man when it says: The believers, men and women, are Awliya (helpers, protectors and supporters) of each other, they enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil . [Al-Tawbah 9:71]
Source
From this we can see that men and women are equal in Islam in terms of helping and supporting each other. You can also read an article by Imam Zaid Shakir called “The Social Involvement of Women in Islam” which highlights contemporary issues the West has towards Islam regarding women. In the article there are clear proofs which show that Muslim women can work with men on all different levels of social, political, economical and spiritual areas. The key point here is with men not by themselves. The problem with the current 6 nominees on the MSA National board is that there are ALL sisters and that the organization is for all Muslims students in North America both brothers and sisters. I believe it is only fair that the board have a few brothers along with the sisters in the organization.
I have nothing against the sisters who were elected nor (as I said before) do I have anything against sisters being in leadership positions. I just feel that with the 20 days or asking for nominations there at least could have been 1 or 2 brothers that were nominated but may have been mistakenly rejected by the approval committee.
Is MSA National Dead?
Well based on the emails, the in-activity of the websites and the fact that they only have 6 people on a ballot where minimally should have at least 9 nominees and by default 18 nominees, it clearly appears to me that MSA National is either going through some type of inactive crisis or the ummah of North America has lost its interest in MSA National. For those of you who are active at your local MSA, what exactly has MSA National done for your MSA or in general for all MSAs in your area? Being a former vice-president of SBU MSA, I can honestly say, we functioned completely self-sufficient without any help or communication with MSA National.
There is good that MSA National has done and is doing which is the zonal and national conference yearly. In reality, most of the zonal conferences are organized and run by local MSAs depending on the location. For example, when the MSA East Zone conference was in New York City, MSA National didn’t do much. It was all MSA-NY (Stony Brook, NYU, Pace, Hofstra, Queens, Hunter, and others).
Other than conferences, what has MSA National done in the past 2 years? If you were to take a poll of every single MSA in North America and asked them how does MSA National help you, what would be the results? WhyIslam, CAIR, Zaytuna, Al-Maghrib, SunniPath have done a lot for many MSAs and I’m almost positive these MSAs can agree to that. These organizations are not focused on helping MSAs rather in general the Muslims and non-Muslim communities. From what I understand MSA Natoinal’s focus is towards the MSAs of North America.
The real question is: What exactly does MSA National do for MSAs in North America and what is it doing now?
May Allah (swt) forgive me for anything wrong I have said and may Allah (swt) guide MSA National to what is best for them and the ummah in North America! Ameen.
[Totally random: They really need to upgrade there logo. It's 2007!]
57 Responses for "Is MSA National Dead? [Updates: 3]"
i think the answer is yes
just a thought… youve done a lot of piecing together the sequence of events as you witnessed it. thats good, but i didnt see anything here that indicates what MSA National had to say about it. have you contacted them and gotten at least one response for all these points before posting them here? theyre legitimate concerns, no doubt, but it would certainly be helpful to those who read this to know what the explanation was from the organization directly.
As salaamu alaikum:
Yeah I felt the same exact way when I got all those emails as well from MSA national.
But it would be better to maybe get a direct statement from then, inshaAllah.
*if* Msa national is inactive at the moment, there can be several reasons:
1) Muslims are more active on a local level and don’t have time for more
2) Many Muslims don’t see the point of MSA National since the local MSA chapters are sufficinet for their needs
3) The Ummah itself has a decline in Eman and activism
waAllahu ‘alam.
Bismillah
I’ve always wondered why no one from our area (tri-state) has ever been nominated for a position. I’ve also wondered how people become nominated for positions. Of all the emails that I have received, not once did I ever receive rules and regulations of how, why, when people are selected, and what level of activity they need (for example, as a pre-requisite) to become nominated.
I can honestly say that I personally have tried to contact MSA National for speakers and Islamic Awareness Week, but unfortunately, never received a response. Other than that, I only knew MSA National to be a part of the zonal conferences, and like you said, only the local MSAs are the ones that really contribute.
I pray that there is a way to kinda lay out the rules and description of how one can participate. Unfortunately, it looks like my times up
Alhamdullilah!
Meraj - I doub’t they’ll take me seriously if I emailed them this. Sometimes when MR makes a post, its more effective then Amir writing an email.
When things go public, people tend to act faster.
And Allah knows best.
so your basically saying we need more transparency?
but really whats msa national good for ? honest question, not trying to insult anyone.
It oughta be really easy to revive it. Just update their (old) website and get more active on Facebook! I don’t blame the lack of response though email. It seems like everything is done though the ‘book nowadays. I could see 100 people applying that way.
That’s a very good question actually.
salaams,
amir i think a lot of the ppl who read this entry made the (false) assumption that no one has contacted msa national. maybe you should go ahead and post some of the transactions so ppl can see it.
also, some ppl seem to think that there werent enough nominees–when it’s not that ppl werent *nominated* but that nominees were just NOT placed on the ballot.
hmm….what to do next…
Yo MR what’s the difference between the Zones? I tried figuring it out on the website but couldn’t and I have a brother I want to nominate who has 10 years of experience.
Reply here soon!
Basically MSA National divided the United States and Canada into 5 zones. East Zone (US), East Zone (CA), Central Zone (US), West Zone (US), West Zone (CA).
MSA EZ (US)Facebook Group:
http://stonybrook.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2210093503
MSA CZ Facebook Group:
http://stonybrook.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204614967
MSA WZ (US) Facebook Group:
http://stonybrook.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204662093
[...] Is MSA National Dead? Is MSA National Dead? __________________ Please check my new special project, UmmahWatch. JazakAllah khair! [...]
K Jazaka Allahu khayran bro. Keep it up…however,
Can MSA National still be used as a channel to getting Dawah material out to MSAs across the country in a quick, timely manner?
I don’t know about MSA National, but WhyIslam does an amazing job in providing Dawah materials. More info here.
True true…
MR I notice that on your site you focus a lot on the differences between Sufi belief and Salafi…and to be honest, I think they are beginning to merge, if not already merged. A lot of brothers are emerging who are essentially hybrids–not by name (I’m Muslim and that’s it) but in their mentality they are half-halfs, they don’t call themselves that but if you look at them, you realize that is exactly what they have become. Alhamdulillah.
So for that token, I think this is old. See: http://maniacmuslim.com/forums/index.php?&showtopic=12843&mode=show&st=0
Just my 2 cents.
Also, for all the Daiee brothers, could you post some stuff regarding Dawah organizations for brothers looking to be employed as full-time Dawah workers in NA or Internationally? That is, if you are aware of any?
Yes that is true. Actually I post on a variety of Islamic aspects on the ummah in North America and the world. It’s just the previous post dealt with that issue.
Remember the best dawah is the way we act. InshaAllah let us all act in the best manner representing Islam.
So I’m assuming you don’t know if WhyIslam employs workers? Or that of any International Dawah organization? Or Muslim humanitarian organizations?
I think WhyIslam is all volunteer work. Not sure. International Dawah: Post Islamic videos on YouTube? hahaha
Muslim humanitarian: Islamic Relief - irw.org
:O Allrighty I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. But Jazaka Allahu khayran for the link. Keep the good stuff up!
Assalamu alaikum
If MSA National is dead, its unsurprising. As a national organization, they focused more on charismatic leadership then effective organization. They implemented a paradox: becoming a national organization through grass roots movements. We had this discussion a few years ago on the forum where I argued that MSA national needed more centralization, not decentralization since the very purpose of a national organization simply cannot incorporate grass roots movement. This is why the anti-war movement failed and this is why even once-strong organizations such as CAIR are faltering. A nationalized leadership requires centralization, not decentralization.
Also, I think the problem is their election methodology. They choose only people that have interacted with MSA national, as opposed to focusing on the leaders themselves. By focusing only on those people who have helped out with MSA national, they narrow their pool. Most interaction with MSA National occurs at the zonal level, but those positions themselves are restricted to an elite group of people, thus reaffirming the paradox of trying to be a national organization while also trying to be grass roots.
Another major problem is that MSA national lacks a unified vision for the American Muslim community, such as ISNA. They don’t want to delve into the realm of Islamic knowledge since that requires touching upon certain issues (Salafi v. Traditionalist, etc). However, dispersing knowledge is a key element of spiritual revival.
Basically, MSA National needs a major overhall.
With that said, I don’t think MSA National is dead and I don’t think its fair to judge an entire organization’s work by how active its elections are. The elections are only a once a year occurrence and MSA National participates in many events. So lets give our brothers and sisters the benefit of the doubt, inshaAllah.
masalama
[...] Is MSA National Dead? asks Mujahideen Ryder, based on their low election turnout. [...]
Salaam,
What do you mean MSA National is dead? They had their first African American on their national team (i think asst secretary or something) a few years ago!!!
How can MSA National be relevant to African American Muslims, when they make up over 50% of the Muslim community in the USA, and they only had their first African American position filled in 2002.
MSA National been dead a long time ago.
I think it is time to revive it and make it an organization that truly represents the muslim student community.
^ There was another African American on this year’s E-Board. But yeah you’re right. MSA National doesn’t do anything to provide resources for MSA chapters on a local level. Even MSA National workers are burnt out and have animosity towards the organization, and the leaders at the very top. It’s sad to see an organization with such enormous potential be in the same place it was over 40 years ago.
assalamu alaikum,
Found you by link through the page of a former MSA Nat’l rep on Facebook.
Hmm. I participated on a very superficial basis with GWU MSA while I was there (I’m a convert but did more with particular sisters there than the actual group); however, East Zone, an MSA National activity by name, was key for me in becoming more involved in my own search for knowledge and staying in the deen and figuring out who the major figures in US Islam are.
I’ve gotten the same emails you have, but with the great bonus that even though I have the will and time to participate, I’m not a student, and so am not as qualified for positions, etc. Because I’m only loosely affiliated with the group at my alma mater and less so with others in the area, I can’t nominate people I don’t know want to be involved. So that’s for the nomination issue.
MSA National does feel a bit inactive lately (for all my disclaimers about feeling removed from it). I know of local groups doing great things, and I have a great group of young people I try to keep in contact with on a personal level, but as an organization? I look to them for info on conferences and that’s ’bout it.
I’m with the commenter who said that it’s time to make MSA something that truly represents the community it is supposed to represent… while also letting alumni give some sort of contribution. After all, if I cared enough to join while I was a student, I might just have something to say about where it’s going. What do the students think?
Good post, thanks. I’ll have to visit in the future.
wa ma salaama
TwennyTwo
I think people bring up a lot of good points.
From my perspective while MSA National could be doing sooo much more I know they’ve done a few things in recent history:
- Publicizing Project Downtown (this program has been hailed by Imam Zaid, Imam Magid and a bunch of other people)
- COMPASS management training programs (these rock)
- Publicizing Fast-A-Thon
- Constellation program to bring together local MSAs
At the end of the day MSA National is what we make it. Even if people we know aren’t elected I’m sure there are ways to get involved. It’ll be interesting to see what this year’s officers do.
Was MSA National ever alive? I can offer my perspective - in the 8 years I was affiliated with MSA in my college, MSA National had virtually nothing to do with our school, or contacting us.
The problem with MSA National (and MSA in particular) is the lack of continuity in leadership. If your leadership radically changes every single year, then there’s no doubt that the vision and focus of the organization is going to be inconsistent.
If MSA National wants to do something productive, they ought to focus on developing their own model of leadership and then make sure they are developing Muslim leaders. Imam Suhaib Webb laid out some recommendations on his site, and that’s a good start, but in addition, real leadership programs from real leaders in the Muslim community need to step up and show them how to work as an organization, given their make up and constraints.
Siraaj
asalamu alaikum,
Jazak Allah khair brother for bringing this issue to light. It needed to be addressed before the situation got any worse.
I know for a fact, that I have more connection and interaction with more msa chapters from different areas of my zone than MSA National has AFFILIATED with my zone.
now THAT. is sad.
It was then that I realized that MSA National was Dying…
I have worked with MSA National previously on a zonal conference, and seriously I’ve never seen such disorganization. They put too many random rules that didn’t belong or make any sence.
I was talking to a brother from my MSA who was an international student and he asked about MSA National. When I told him that MSA national has a lot of political issues and are difficult to work with, he wasn’t surprised. He said that a lot of organizations in the west have the same problem, and that organizations in the Mideast never have these problems.
He continued to conclude that the problem was that Muslims in the west seem to forget thier vision and the goal that they’re working towards.
I couldn’t have said it better.
And by the way, as far as elections go, find good leaders, and keep them there. No elections unless that person is leaving the position, even if they are leaving school. Why lose all that experience, insight, and continuity?
Siraaj
I hate to say it but if it’s not doing much–and MSAs are doing fine without National…maybe we should just let it die? It might be more work to bring it back and it might not even be worth it or maybe it would. Maybe we need to move on to something bigger…Allahu Alaam.
Also virtually all Islamic Dawah organizations are based on VOLUNTEERS…most of these MSA Nat’l people have their own MSAs to run…imagine how much work it is to coordinate MSAs spanning two countries (Canada and USA)? That’s insane, if you think about it.
MSA National should employ people to work for MSAs and PAY them. And they should work in MSA Nat’l alone. Volunteer Dawah organizations cannot realistically compete against Christian Missionary corporations. We need to find out how to run it like a BUSINESS–ex: Khalid Yasin’s 1Islam Entertainment.
In the words shaykh Kamal Mekki: “The Du’aat (Dawah workers) of today live as BEGGARS. That is how they live. It hurts to know that.”
SOLUTIONS:
-create a database of Dawah materials for MSAs
-MORE projects like the world famous MSA-USC Qur’an and hadith database: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/
-creating a hierarchy of MSAs that will reduce the bureaucratic work and all the red-taping.
-Monthly status reports from MSAs through Canada and USA and prompt replies and coordination
-The creation of an MSA Think Tank to deal with the dymanics of on-campus Dawah (dealing with Christian missionaries, University Admin, etc.) and to network with other Dawah organizations and help counter this issue.
a point that was echoed by a few of ther previous commenters is that the fact that MSA national has yearly elections and that its base is spread across an entire continent. while they still need some important changes internally, the lack of participation and available manpower only compounds the problem. the questions being asked here are completely valid, but they need to be addressed to the organization *directly*, and most importantly, they need to be accompanied with an inquiry of how we can *help* change it. you cant expect the dozen or so volunteers in the governing body to make everything happen on their own. without enough help, its no surprise that the task would end up become an exceeding difficult one.
Too much red tape. Too much paperwork.
Siraaj Muhammad:
That’s kind of the problem with MSA National. The clique of MSA National is not training new leaders, but just trying to hold on to what influence they have within the organization. Honestly, MSA National does less outreach and training than it could given the fact that it has all these conferences. Were such conferences to switch focus from being *primarily* Islamic conferences to more organizational meetings, then maybe MSA National could find out about all those people outside of its own circle of friends. It also seems as though MSA National thrives on only allowing people into the organization who agree with its policies and procedures, and without any real channel for change and progress and differing opinions and dialogue, no organization can move forward.
Meraj:
I think people are trying to help, but MSA National has almost already stubbornly decided about the way it wants to work as an organization. I think MSA National owes us all an explanation for why their VP US Ahmed Sidky was forced to resign last year when he seemed to be the one doing all the work. I mean, the MSA Zone website and the whole constellation business, and even the MSA Exec Conference at ISNA seemed to have been all the product of his hard work. Ahmed Sidky is proof of the fact that plenty of people have addressed their concerns to MSA National leaders (after all, he was one of them), but MSA National just doesn’t prove itself to be willing or capable of being inclusive or dynamic.
may Allah guide us all. please let’s be adults and let’s be civil. if this is becoming about individuals than i think it is best to contact the organization itself as it involves people’s personal information.
if the purpose of this discussion is to generate ideas that’s great- but ultimately in order to implement your bright ideas each one of you should contact the organization and see how you could help out.
when people begin discussing individuals without context, i think this can become dangerous and personally harmful.
Very good point, but the problem is in trying to change MSA National would mean to change the rules they follow. Most of us are from non-affiliated MSAs so we can’t vote or nominate. The reason why our MSAs are not affliated is because there is no benefit. The ones who are part of affiliated MSAs are either rejected by them or have no control due to the way the system is set up.
Basically MSA National, as Jinnzaman says it very beautifuly on his blog, needs a complete over haul.
Worse-Case Scenario:
Perhaps, MSAs throughout North America should come together and decide on a boycott of MSA National (cliche, I know) and set-up a new body, separate from MSA Nat’l, called MSA International, where we work in setting up MSAs in Europe and other universities.
With a boycott their would be pressure on Nat’l to cut the bureaucrazy.
A point was made that we shouldn’t single out brothers and mention names. With any sort of politics–names will have to be mentioned, unfortunately, if the problem needs to be addressed. Otherwise, the problem will remain. It is not gheebah because this is something that affects us all and so all of us must deal with it. But that said, yes we should mention context and maybe MSA National needs to open up their records to public scrutiny.
someone should ask them for there public records or we could just ask the FBI
Assalamu Alaykum,
Some of the points addressed are valid and people have a point. Howhever I think one needs to be carefull when questioning the intentions of the people that have been involved and whom have spent numerous hours and sleepless nights working on things, and that this work was done only for the sake of Allah. Do some people really think that MSA National really wants to do nothing but go places and just ”brand” itself. I mean there is no need to start making conspiracy theories and how we need to get their public records.. I don’t think MSA National is doing anything wrong per se. They follow the book, but it’s the book and the rules that are the problem. The question is how do we fix those problems, I’m sure most people agree that MSA National has a huge potential, now it would be useless to simply ”boycott” it and open your own organization from scratch. Why don’t we work on simply fixing the issues itself. The’re are also some internal aspects and issues that probably went on and that most of us probably don’t know of, so lets not jump to conclusions by pointing fingures. They should be given the benefit of the doubt and lets work on reviving the organization instead of killing it.
agreed.
Amir, Zaki has presented an offer to help push these issues in a reasonable way. i recommend taking him up on it and working with the group of people who are leading this call for change. thats a great way to deal with this without making it into an unnecessarily dramatic controversy.
internal problems for that many years?
honestly, I couldn’t agree more with so much of what has been said here. there’s a lot of call for changing and need for overhaul, and I definitely agree. Just to take my own personal example as a person who worked on a very low level small scale thing that was somehow connected with MSA national, that one experience completely turned me away from MSA national. Why? Bureaucracy. plain and simple. And to think of it retrospectively, my volunteer position was so small it’s unbelievable and yet even with such a low position on the ladder that seems so far and disconnected with MSA national, we failed in our project because of all of the red tape and bureaucracy involved. although help was offered and volunteers were available, so many rules and regulations (all of which were unwritten or unavailable for our access naturally) got in the way that nothing could be accomplished.
This is one experience, yes, but after encountering so many other people with the same story, it gets irritating and justifies the distance I put between myself, my local MSA, and MSA National.
One major suggestion to prevent this from happening in the future: be TRANSPARENT. from small things such as who is affiliated and how an MSA can be affiliated, to responding to inquiries and emails in a timely manner, to having QUICK, EASY and SIMPLE access to things such as dawah information and how to start up an MSA, to actually having a written record of rules and regulations for each event or project MSA national puts on. I hope that someone from national reads these comments and sincerely takes them to heart.
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this comment was written purely for the sake of Allah (swt), not to point fingers, but to help give MSA national that extreme makeover it desperately needs to reconnect with local MSA’s and become a more effective organization as a whole, completely transparent and without bureaucracy, an organization for the people by the people. InshAllah they can take these comments to heart and not take any offense to some comments because at this point pure blunt honesty is what is needed to push for change.
I just thought that it was interesting that Wikipedia already got hold of you and hahmed’s post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Student_Association
Sorry. I know it’s irrelevant.
I don’t know about MSA Nat’l, but MSA WEST is alive and well, thank you very much. Just two weeks ago they had a conference at University of California, Irvine. And a few months before that, they had one at…UCLA, I believe. AND they were even better than the one that ISNA puts together every year.
Amir himself did that. Amir, im disappointed, thats a really irresponsible move. as you saw in recent discussion of this matter, MSA’s response to this has not been publicised, only the accusations against it. if you want to make change happen, this is not the way to do it.
I haven’t publicy posted anything yet, but I do think everyone should know that MSA National actually has not officially responded to our concerns that were addressed to them directly and privately, but the Elections Committee has. I honestly believe that the Elections Committee has been doing an amazing job given the knowledge and resources they were provided by MSA National. They admitted to making a key mistake of not contacting all the nominees and informing each of them about the status of their nomination (they only contacted the ones who did qualify), but they were only following the protocol and directions given to them by MSA National, and they have said that they will make their official recommendations for revision with the current election policies and procedures after the current elections season is over. May Allah make their job easier for them and reward them for their sincere efforts since their sole job is only to implement policy and not to create or change it. I really hope in the future, the elections committee is given full authority in making sure that the elections are legitimate and actually reflect the opinions of the MSAs as to who they believe can best lead them.
The Elections Committee is actually looking into the matter of the current elections because two key issues were just raised:
1. The current affiliation status of the chapters to which the candidates belong.
2. The number of delegates assigned to each chapter.
The first issue highlights that MSA National is seemingly not ready to bend on any rules to help make this election process any more open and legitimate (they actually have termed it “interfering” if they try to help more people get on the ballot in order to make this a real election), but they are not respecting the rules when it comes to the candidates that they themselves nominated to be on the ballot (and yes, MSA National did officially recommend everyone on the ballot except for Nura Sediqe, who is running for CZ Rep). After all, one of the rules is that a candidate who wishes to run must be from a currently affiliated MSA chapter. According to the list of affiliated chapters that existed during the time of the Zonal Conferences this year, only one of those candidates actually meets that requirement, and others were given the chance to reaffiliate their schools properly during the time frame of the nomination process. The point that they (the Elections Committee) are doing an inquiry into the matter now to figure out if the candidates match that requirement highlights the fact that the Elections Committee hasn’t been provided accurate and updated information from the MSA National office regarding the updated affiliation status of the MSA chapters, which, in my opinion, should be publicly available on the website. MSA National is not even transparent within its own organization!
The second issue highlights a key point brought forth in the constitution, which is posted online. According to this constitution, each affiliated MSA chapter has one nomination in the election, and each delegate has one vote in the final election, where each chapter may have from 1 - 5 delegates (depending on the number of members in each MSA). To my knowledge, there are no such records available of the official number of delegates for each affiliated MSA (there have never been records of this as far as I know), so how can the rules in the constitution be followed? In fact, if 30% of the delegates do not vote in the election, the election is not considered valid according to the constitution, and I don’t even think that many chapters will be too inclined to vote in this uncontested election. The fact that even the Elections Committee was unaware about the entire delegate matter before the issue was raised to them proves that MSA National has not even been able to effectively run by its own constitution for these many years!
And Meraj, c’mon man. Amir does not have any influence in the MSA National organization, but he can do this. What is the Prophetic hadith about changing something that you see is wrong? First with your hand (i.e. do it yourself), then if you can’t do that, do it with your tongue (i.e. tell others who may be able to fix the situation), and then just try to hate it with your heart, but know that that’s the worst stage of eman (when you can only feel bad about something). Well, since Amir isn’t in the position to help with his own hands, it seems like he is just trying to help via his tongue by letting people know what the situation is and perhaps open the eyes of the people who are able to help and motivate them to get involved and make some change. I don’t think anybody is calling for disunity or separation, even though there may be ignorant comments made here or there about letting the organization die or crumble. Honestly people, we should all see this election more as a cry for help than anything else. I have no doubt if MSA National is receptive to allowing new people into the organization to help revitalize it, that insha Allah we can really get some great work done for this ummah. Let’s all pray for success and unity, guys…that’s the whole point of these types of organizations anyway, right?
SubhanAllah brother. It’s very simple. MSA national ain’t doing jack. It’s an old man trying to speak living off a machine on a hospital bed.
Yes I added that to wikipedia. Why not? It’s a major impact on MSA National anyway. It’s not irresponsible. It’s called ACTION.
The only way to keep it alive is to let it die and a new baby comes and replace either under the same MSA National name or a completely new name.
The future starts now.
[...] Is MSA National Dead? [Updates: 1] [...]
MSA National should follow the model of MSA West.
The problem is not the leadership and its not the MSAs, the problem is that a National organization requires a bureacracy. The problem with MSA National is that its modelled off of a typical MSA and not a national organization. The MSA model simply CANNOT function for a national organization. A national organization requires a bureacracy and paid positions. It cannot be done on a volunteer year by year position.
Thus, I’m going to have to disagree with the analogy by Amir that MSA NAT is an old man, its more like a child trying to do a fully grown man’s job. MSA National must restructure itself to become a leader for the American Muslim community.
My suggestions:
- Open elections only to those who have experience in leadership at ANY Islamic institution AND have had formal or informal study of Islam with a reliable scholar.
- Transform the organization from a volunteer basis to a paid position.
- Work on creating a national office with a bureacracy
- Move away from the Ikhwani model and move closer to a more dynamic Traditionalist model with a focus on Aqeedah, Fiqh and Tasawwuf and promoting the education of the Muslim masses.
Asalamu Alaikum…
MSA Natl. may need a good marketing campaign, but then again, a good marketing campaign does not mean that everything will be fine. A good PR group could make everything look nice. but everyone knows PR groups are sleazy…
MSA Natl. needs to focus. They’re always talking…talking…and talking… and periodically bringing out awesome new programs, (fast-a-thon, project downtown, etc) but come on man, wheres the institutionalization? and whats up with all the red tape?
If we keep talking and not working, how is anyone going to take us seriously? If we really truly believed in this cause (which could use some redefinition), then we’d be all up in everything, working ourselves for the truth…but maybe we don’t believe in it anymore for some reason or another. That’s an issue.
An overall point needed to be recognized is that we need these organizations to be here in 50 years, in a 100 years, inshaAllah for our kids, for our grandkids. And another point to keep in mind is to look to other groups involved nationally on campus - and look at how old they are…they’ve been around forever, so it may seem only natural for MSA Natl to go through this phase. but each organization had a specific goal…they didnt try to save the entire world and do EVERYTHING…[for example, MSA Natl isnt an Islamic learning institute, nor is a "converting machine"...] What MSA Natl is, its an organization to serve the STUDENTS…yea, remember those guys? The STUDENTS, not certain people…and I’m not even going to get into that.
As for beauracracy - it seems to be the ONLY thing apparent at this point in time, and that can’t be the only thing running MSA Natl. When all you do is put up red tape, it seems like you dont want anyone to join your organization, in the name of professionalism.
And maybe thats why I’m ranting on some blog about MSA Natl because no one else will really listen. Hi MSA Natl. I hope you’re reading this.
There are amazing Muslim individuals out there that MSA Natl needs to take advantage of…and not put up ridiculous red tape, again, in the name of professionalim or whatever reasons they give.
We all know that MSA Natl was started over 40? years ago by a group of amazing amazing people mashaAllah with pure intentions and a strong work ethic. We need to get back to that, get back WHY MSA Natl was started, and adjust to our current situation, and keep in mind the big picture.
Red tape, beauracracy and exclusiveness are NOT way to go.
peace.
Independent Study on MSA National
Your input is needed!
Assalamu Alaikum,
I think we are selling ourselves short if we restrict this discussion to how so-and-so was not allowed to run for MSA-N President, etc. That is a symptom of a much greater problem: What has MSA-National actually done for Muslim students in America recently?
This is a broad topic and the organization needs to be held accountable, by having transparent discussions of their accomplishments, failures, etc. on a regular basis, just as is done with any other public organization.
The most recent issue that comes to mind was the article in the NYT on 2/4/07 which bashed MSA (not MSA-N, but the whole idea of MSA) as being nothing but a forum for sectarianism, division, etc. It found some disgruntled members who backed that up. Its not often that MSA is in the big media, and this ridiculous article ignored all the great things MSAs across the US accomplish: all the awareness efforts, volunteer efforts, campus-wide social justice work, etc.
If there ever was a moment for MSA-National to step up and represent us, this was it. And they failed. I personally emailed the leadership encouraging them to respond with a statement or a joint letter to the editor, which they ignored. That night on CNN, good old Ibrahim Hooper was there talking about the great work MSA is doing. Where was MSA-National?
I remember back in summer of 05, when the bombings in Egypt occurred. I must have gotten so many emails of MSA-N statements, etc. Again with the famed anti-terrorism ‘fatwa’, where the top brass was there for photo-ops, etc. Is that all MSA-N is good for? Putting out apologetic statements, but absent when they can actually do something for the Muslim students of America?
Sorry if I said something inappropriate. If you take anything from my message, its to avoid restricting this discussion to obscure bits of election code, policy, etc. This is about something much bigger.
May Allah guide us all.
[...] Posted in Muslims, Politics, Announcements at 6:37 pm by Danya There has been some discussion on some blogs like as Jinnzaman, Maniac Muslim, and Mujahideen Ryder about the status of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) National. Some people are taking taking issue with the manner in which the elections are being conducted (amongst other things), and rightfully so. We should all seek to be part of the solution, not the problem. Amir (Mujahideen Ryder) has posted an independent study to pin point problems and offer solutions. The survey will literally take you less than five minutes to fill out. [...]
[...] As a concerned Muslim student and local MSA leader, I hear all this talk going on about the current state of MSA National here, here, and here , and I’m a bit worried. Worried enough to do something. You see, we can’t treat MSA National as just any other Islamic organization. It already has a niche in the market with the college students across North America. Practically any college you can name has a local MSA chapter to go along with it, but most of these local MSAs are completely isolated from their umbrella organization. Some may not even know such a thing as MSA National exists, and others may be vaguely familiar or affiliated with the organization, but only a handful of local MSAs actually do some real collaboration with them. The problem is: seemingly nobody knows what exactly MSA National is really there for. [...]
like someone mentioned above, what is MSA National good for? Is it even necessary to have one?
like someone mentioned above, what is MSA National good for? Is it even necessary to have one?
like someone mentioned above, what is MSA National good for? Is it even necessary to have one?
Sorry, for some reason it told me that MR said the above comment when it was actually mine.
MSA SUCKS ITS ALL ABOUT HITCHING WITH GIRLS AND WHEN THEIR JOB IS DONE GETTING A GIRL THEY JUST LEAVE..
As-salam-a-lay-kum,
I feel that I might be able to shed some light on this topic. I served as the former CZ-rep for MSA-National back in 2001/2002.
Historically the terms used to be 2 years, but very few students were able to put forth that amount of effort to work for MSA-National for 2 years, and be in school. Most officers ended up having to resign their positions due to it being too much work for them. Myself included. As such new officers had to be found during the middle of the term.
When you 1st get the job as a zonal rep, it’s very daunting. All of a sudden you are responsible for HUNDREDS of chapters, with no help. I started creating state reps, and zonal councils to help me with this, but it still wasn’t enough.
Making that 1st phone call to an MSA chapter to gather contact information about them…is very terrifying. You need to overcome your own fears, and make a cold call to someone you’ve never met or talked to before. A lot of people can’t get over this, so they rely on their own personal contacts to get work done.
Someone else hit upon the point that all MSA-National workers are local workers. EXACTLY. All of the volunteers are local workers. Even the officers. Unfortunatly most of them put their LOCAL chapters first, and slack on the work for National. Hence why people ask for speakers, or help & don’t get it. The people answering those email accounts are VOLUNTEERS who might/might not put MSA-National as their 1st priority. What we need are a bunch of volunteers who are willing to work just for National.
As for paid workers…that was discussed, but funds were never able to be collected to go forward with that. It’s an idea with merit, but the proper funding needs to be given. Alas this has always been a problem in Islamic work. I remember being invited by an MSA state to visit them, and not having the funds to go and do an outreach trip. The entire trip would have cost $100 (gas/hotel).
The conferences are setup at such a price that it’s at cost so that as many people can come. CZ conference during my year was $59/person…and that included hotel/food/admission. From the continental conference they only get a portion of the registration fees, and that only from those registered as “MSA”. If you’re registered as MYNA/ISNA, or other they get none of those funds.
Historically the elections have had a low turnout. No one bothers to run, or to ask “what do I need to do to get someone as an officer?” Most people think that it’s too much work, and don’t want to volunteer. To be fair, MSA-National probably hasn’t done the job to adequatly explain what it takes. During my election it took the following:
1. Nomination from 2 chapters in your zone
2. An “Islamic Resume”
3. A letter of recommendation from a local masjid/Islamic organization.
4. I think their was something else but I can’t remember now….it’s been too long.
During my term, I was probably putting in a good 6-8 hrs of work a day for National work, along with classes. I know it drove me insane, and I used to get testy with my roommates. Alhumdullilah they fully understood, and did what they could.
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