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.

Mujahideen Ryder on June 22, 2007 at 9:44 pm said:

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.

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.

Your input is needed!

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.