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6/27/2021
Haverford College Mail - Idea for MSA Project
Ahlam Houssein
Idea for MSA Project
2 messages
Ahlam Houssein
To: Qaid Hassan
Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 12:04 PM
Salam Qaid,
I hope this email finds you well inshaAllah.
I responded to your email just a short while ago saying that I had come up with an idea for a project our MSA, and potentially other schools' MSAs as well, may
work on collectively. I wanted to delineate it here so we could jump into discussion when we meet later this week.
It pertains to the circumstances Uighur Muslims have been facing for years in China, which, as I am sure you are aware, have progressively worsened in severity
and impact in recent times. I believe that a crisis such as this is not one that can be deemed a mere political or religious matter and therefore left to resolve itself in
the location in which it occurs. Rather, it is a question of whether the world will stand as inhumanity, oppression, and utter disregard for respect of people's faith,
practice, and lives persists. That being said, I believe it is within every nation's full responsibility to not just condemn the genocide that is happening, but take action
in stopping it. The United States cannot shamelessly claim such a great degree of world power as it does if it does not exercise that influence to do good.
My heart breaks to see our Muslim Ummah abroad suffering, isolated, and helpless. I do not have the immediate power to interfere myself, so I want to find a way to
get to the people who can. So, I want to initiate a project to write to our government and appeal to their concern, urging our future administration (hopefully BidenHarris) to address this issue of international affairs. The means by which I envision us doing this is through an open letter drafted first by our MSA as we plan and
gather our thoughts; then, I am thinking of expanding the project to encompass other universities' MSAs in joining together with us in this effort. This open letter may
be partly modeled after the open letter that the Haverford Black Students League wrote to the Bi-College community earlier this summer during the events of the
BLM movement. I have linked it below for your reference.
If after genocides that have happened throughout history the message afterwards was "Never again," we must push to make that a term encompassing of Muslims
as well. This world is a harsh place, and biases exist all around; it is our role to combat that with advocacy and action. I wish we were in a current position of
proactivity, but because of the nature of things, we have no choice but to be reactive. Let's do it before it's too late.
I want to lead this project in such a way that it gets accomplished in time for it to be productive. I don't know what that mapping looks like right now, but it is certainly
something I want to dedicate my time to and am willing to work through with your guidance along the way. If you are willing, could we schedule a one-on-one Zoom
call to run through the logistics? When I pitch the idea to the group, I want to do so in a methodical, well-planned way so it is clear how to best approach the project.
So for now, I want to keep it between you and I until we have formulated a plan to deliver to everyone else.
Please let me know your thoughts, concerns, tips, etc. Thank you in advance!
Take care,
Ahlam
BSL's Open Letter in Response to Racial Issues in the Bi-Co Community:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ZIi4QtlyU5C9mVP1heyBD7rrI44k_F1nUbjHYhvR_o/edit
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=9c31e510ac&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-a%3Ar1081617818865582597&simpl=msg-a%3Ar-8232376887915847432&simpl=msg-f%3A1678652249092634394
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6/27/2021
Haverford College Mail - Idea for MSA Project
Qaid Hassan
To: Ahlam Houssein
Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 2:58 PM
Jazakumallah khair!
Subhanallah
Sounds amazing.
Let’s definitely talk about making this happen.
Tawfiq!
-qaid
This message was sent from an enhanced modular device with limited telephonic/satellitic capabilities.
On Sep 23, 2020, at 12:04 PM, Ahlam Houssein
[Quoted text hidden]
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=9c31e510ac&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-a%3Ar1081617818865582597&simpl=msg-a%3Ar-8232376887915847432&simpl=msg-f%3A1678652249092634394
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Idea for MSA Project email
Email describing a potential project to write to the US government about the Uighur Muslim crisis, modeled after the Black Student League's Open Letter earlier that academic year.
Houssein, Ahlam (author)
Hassan, Qaid (author)
2020-09-23
2 pages
born digital
Haverford College Mail- Idea for MSA Project