Peace be with you all,

Hello! I am currently a sophomore here at Hopkins and I am also an executive board member of the Johns Hopkins University Muslim Students Association. When I was asked to speak today about how I keep my faith here at JHU in "just a three minute shpeel", I honestly did not know how I would begin. My faith is an enormous part of my day-to-day life. I probably spent as much time at the IFC as I did at the library last year... ok, well, maybe not AS much...we are enrolled here at HOPKINS so of course studying is a major part of our daily agendas.

I tried to recall my first of many visits to the IFC, where my involvement with the Muslim Students Association (or MSA) first began. I was a freshman and it was the first of second day of Orientation. My handy dandy freshman orientation booklet directed me to the IFC for its annual "Ice Cream Social" where I was pretty much money-back guaranteed to meet new friends and consume "tons of refreshments". Not only was this guarantee true for me (like most IFC events there was indeed plenty of good-eats), it was at this Ice Cream Social where I met many of the friends I have now. Afterwards, I was shown around the IFC and I realized what fantastic opportunities it presented for us as followers of our own respective faiths and as students.

For me as a Muslim, the musullah, or prayer room, offered a place where I could take a break from studying and where I would be able to pray, a five-time per day requirement for Muslims. I did not get a chance to see the upper level of the IFC until the following week at the Muslim Friday prayers. This was an extraordinary moment for me. My high school was extremely homogenous in terms of the religious backgrounds of its students. I was the only Muslim student and there were very few opportunities for religion and school to fuse or really coexist. From my early days in elementary school where I was the little girl in mile-high pigtails, school was always separate from religion. It was simple: I learned at school and prayed at home with my family. That first Friday, I was filled with a brand-new feeling: here I was, surrounded by my fellow classmates, fresh out of class and able to incorporate my faith with my scholarly duties at Hopkins: to allow them to exist together. From that moment on, I was a regular at the IFC scene.

A few weeks later I was chosen as one of the three freshman representatives to serve on the executive board of the MSA, which turned out to be a fantastic experience for me. Every board meeting was at the IFC and I gradually spent more and more time here as I began to appreciate the benefits of interfaith discourse. During the month of Ramadan members of the MSA were able to break fast with other religious groups on campus such as the Jewish Students Association and Hindu Students Council. Not only did it give them the opportunity to share our holy month with us, but it was invaluable for me - this casual get-together and resulting dialogue allowed us to learn from them as well.

It is easy to incorporate faith with school here at Hopkins. I can’t count how many times before or after a board meeting many of us would study here or use the computers to finish a paper. I remember last year the day before my big calculus final, I came here to the IFC after studying all day in the oh-so-close-to-my-heart MSE Library. Here I broke my fast and ate dinner with fellow MSA members (it was Ramadan), I prayed in the musullah and tried to calm my nerves. It was so comforting to have the IFC to allow me to pray, take a break and relax.

My great experiences last year were too numerous to tell you about. I was eager to serve on MSA board again this year so that the experiences of learning about other faiths at the IFC could continue. So there you have it: my faith and my schooling fused and the IFC was my vehicle to do it. As long as I am a Hopkins student, I will always be busy with my studies but it is an enormous benefit to be able to have the IFC to fulfill my need to maintain my faith during the day. To all of you new to the IFC: take advantage of it; it’s here for your use. You will make friends from all kinds faiths that will teach you and change the way you view the world for the better. I want to close with small verse from the Qur’an from the Surah (or chapter) Al Muzzammil, which means "The Enfolded One". When translated it says: "True, there is for you by day, prolonged occupation with tiresome and ordinary duties. But keep in remembrance the name of your Lord. Devote yourself whole-heartedly to him in daily prayers and remembrance."

I am truly lucky that I am able to remember my faith and keep it at Hopkins. I am better for it. Thank you.  Ð