In the spring of 2002 Cerritos College became the home of the first Muslim Students’ Association of the millennium. Its members are approximately 20-30 in number.

The doors of the M.S.A. are open to all who seek information about Islam.

This month the M.S.A. is celebrating the Holy month of Ramada, which is the month of fasting for Muslims around the world. Students can take part in their celebration by attending a questions and answers event on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 from 3-6pm in the Student Center.

“I was the founder of the M.S.A. and I think the M.S.A. is a very good club to be in because it clarifies the misconceptions about Islam. I came to the campus September of 2002 and I saw there was no M.S.A. on campus. I had been to San Francisco and every single school has an M.S.A. on campus. I saw that we had a lot of Muslims on campus.

So I decided to start it. I only needed to have a certain G.P.A., go to the ASCC and fill out some forms and say that a lot of students want to start an M.S.A. and explain why we wanted to start it and that’s basically how we got started,” Explains Farah Chaugule founder of the M.S.A. “We started out with about six or seven members, now we have between twenty to thirty members. I have seen excellent progress since we got started.

We have tables out now with members standing post with brochures explaining what the M.S.A. is about, we have a display at the library, we have class discussions where we go out and speak to classes that speak about religions and Islam and we did not do that in the beginning. In the beginning it was very hard.

Our website tells non-Muslims what the M.S.A. is about and what Islam is about, we have pictures and articles about Muslims in America. Our meetings are held on Thursdays in the International Students Center in the conference room at 11:30 a.m.”

The doors of the M.S.A. are open to all who seek information about Islam. This month the M.S.A. is celebrating the Holy month of Ramada, which is the month of fasting for Muslims around the world.

“The reason we are here on campus is because a couple of instructors approached us concerning questions their students were asking about Islam. The instructors could not give them a concise answer so we are here to help provide information.

For instance: this is the month of Ramadan. Ramadan consists of thirty days. This is the holiest month on the Islamic calendar and it is the ninth month. In this month, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk [in other words from the time of the sunrise at dawn, to the sunset].

At this time we do not eat, drink, engage in sexual activity or any type of negative conversation.

Ramadan is a time when you learn to control yourself, your conscience, your, emotions, etc., like a real person should act everyday.

The Qur’an (the holy book of Islam) states that if one prays during this time your prayers will be answered if they are proper prayers.

These are things a person should be working on everyday. They should not wait for Ramadan. Ramadan is just an opportunity for you to view yourself and make an effort to improve yourself,” Explains Ali Haider, president of the M.S.A.

Haider and fellow M.S.A. members are planning an event to enlighten seekers of knowledge concerning Islam. This event is designed to both celebrate Ramadan and offer guidance and instruction for those participating in the fast, as well as those who are seeking to gain knowledge about Islam.

“There will be a small lecture from one of our club members and then a woman from UCLA will be the guest speaker and she will talk about Islam in general.

The main attraction will be an open question session for anyone who wishes to know more about Islam.

Any Muslim or non-Muslim is welcome to ask any question about Islam, especially with all the things you see on TV,” Haider said.

There will be refreshments served and healthy conversation for any who chooses to join.

The M.S.A. has grown in members substantially since its inception, from a little over five members to nearly thirty since the end of the spring semester. There is a new M.S.A. website for students and faculty to check out. The address is: http://www.geocities.com/msacerritos and [email protected]

Ali Khalil designed the Website. Khalil is the M.S.A. representative in the ASCC.

“The M.S.A. has made a big change for the Muslims. I started coming to Cerritos last fall. At that time I would see other Muslims but we would never talk to each other.

What the M.S.A. did was give us an opportunity to come together and now we are more familiar to each other. So first the M.S.A helped us to unite with each other, second we began to get non-Muslims to attend our meetings last spring. They were really interested in Islam, and Al Hamdu Allah – meaning all praise is due to God – one of the non-Muslims accepted Islam,” Khalil said.

According to Khalil, when he originally designed the site it did not provide the address.

So he redesigned it and added a few things in order to provide more information and better service to those who log on.

The M.S.A. is one of many groups devoted to sharing information about Islam, its principles and its history. There are many books, websites and magazines devoted to the spread of information concerning Islam. One helpful source according to many Muslims is a book known as Toward Understanding Islam. It can be found over the web or at any Islamic bookstore. For more information email the M.S.A. at: [email protected].

“We want to promote Islam at our college. Many people don’t know that there is an M.S.A. We go outside the college and do community work as well. This is what the M.S.A. is about. We promote peace and unity through Islam.” Says Irfain Khan, Treasurer and board member of the M.S.A.