The Muslim Student Association of UW-Milwaukee held their Eid al-Adha barbecue celebration Wednesday afternoon in the Spaights Plaza. Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, is a festival that shows respect for Ibrahim’s readiness to sacrifice his son to God and many Muslims celebrate this holiday with prayers and social gatherings. On Wednesday, The Muslim Student Association, a UW-Milwaukee student organization with a purpose to inform and educate the student body and campus community about Islamic creed and culture, provided the UWM campus with information on upcoming meetings while students were able to enjoy a burger freshly flipped.
Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, is a festival that shows respect for Ibrahim’s readiness to sacrifice his son to God and many Muslims celebrate this holiday with prayers and social gatherings. On Wednesday, The Muslim Student Association, a UW-Milwaukee student organization with a purpose to inform and educate the student body and campus community about Islamic creed and culture, provided the UWM campus with information on upcoming meetings while students were able to enjoy a burger freshly flipped by Nedal Sarsour.
The Muslim Student Association has a diverse selection of activities for student members of the org to participate in. These activities include lectures, informational booths and seminars; fundraising events like bake sales and Wednesday’s barbecue; and Annual Islam Awareness Week in the spring. A key part of the outreach and volunteer work that the Muslim Student Association is involved in organizing volunteer events at the Da’wa Islamic Center. The Da’wa is located here in Milwaukee and has different community events, prayer times, mobile food pantries and Ramadan events for community members.
“Da’wa needs a lot of help. They deal with homeless shelters and do a lot of other things to help the community there. The Muslim Student Association goes there a lot and help, and most recently, we helped them garden and build a nature walk. We try to fix up their facility as much as we can with our volunteer work. Da’wa also has food shelters and food drives and the Muslim Student Association helps out with those as much as we can,” said Imah Salah, a Muslim Student Association member.
The Muslim Student Association is open to UWM students who want to educate themselves and be engaged with an active community service group while expanding their cultural experience. UWM students wanting to be involved in the Muslim Student Association do not need to practice the Islam religion and everyone interested is encouraged to attend their weekly Thursday night meetings, their first being on Sept. 15 at 4:00 p.m.
“We have two goals at the Muslim Student Association; one is to provide a safe and comfortable environment for Muslims and the second is to provide a space for non-Muslims to come and learn from us, be with us, see who we are and learn what our religion is about,” said Salah.
With the current events going on globally, the Muslim Student Association wants to clear misconceptions of the Islamic religion. The Islamic religion, according to Salah, is a way of life. It affects how you dress, eat, treat your children and spouse and deal with others; it’s an ongoing presence in a Muslim’s life.
“What’s going on in the media is not who we are. It doesn’t represent our faith; we represent our faith. With our programs and outreach, we are hoping that the Muslim Student Association can bring other people together around our causes and help others see what we stand for,” said Salah.