Alhamdulillah, the fall quarter at UCI has been eventful and beneficial. The MSU started the quarter off with a few programs for new students, both freshman and transfers. They hosted a New Student Orientation, which is a networking event to inform new students about the MSU and all of the various programs and services it offers. I spoke to the new students briefly informing them about Chaplaincy on campus, office hours, and our weekly halaqah. There was also a welcome picnic where we got together to play soccer and have dinner together.
During the Fall Quarter I was on campus once a week on Monday’s from 1:00pm-6:00pm providing office hours and a halaqah. The office hours were from 1:00pm-5:00pm in one of the study rooms in the Courtyard Study Lounge, which the MSU was able to reserve for the entire quarter. I was able to meet a number of students for personal consultations regarding a wide variety of issues. A few students came to me weekly to practice and improve their recitation of the Quran. During the office hours I would also meet with members of the MSU board for consultations and updates on various campus activities and events.
The halaqah was held outside the Cross Cultural Center where the MSU gathers for congregational prayer. This quarter we started going through a very beneficial book co-authored by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir entitled Agenda to Change our Condition. It is a small guidebook on how to practically work towards developing taqwa, God-consciousness, within ourselves. We were able to go through the first few chapters and plan on completing it during the Winter quarter.
The MSU also hosted an Islam Awareness Week during the quarter in which they had daily programs for the campus community exploring how Islam empowers individuals to be creative and intelligent. They started off the week with a program entitled “What is Islam?” followed by “Black Muslims in America”, “History of Black Muslims in America”, “Hijab Day”, “Women Empowerment in Islam”, and “Islamic Golden Age”.
I’m looking forward to the Winter Quarter and resuming my activities on campus with the wonderful Students of the MSU.