The Muslim Student Association (MSA) has done it again. They held another fantastic event in commemoration of Prophet Muhammad. On Friday, February 18, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. the MSA held an event for the Prophet’s birthday as the final day of the association’s Muslim Awareness Week. The event took place in the Rosenau room of the Administration Services and Conference Center (ASCC), and a good crowd showed up, including Muslims and non-Muslims, alike.

The event began with the recitation of a part of the Holy Quran, and was soon followed by the Muslim call to prayer. Those who so chose could have gone to pray at that time, and then the speaker began his speech. Imam Mustapha Elturk took the microphone with enthusiasm as he began telling an abbreviated version of the Prophet’s life. He began from when the Prophet was young to his days as a man and his marriage to Khadija. He made a wonderful emphasis on the thoughts and missions of the Prophet. He bestowed a story of a man who lived in a corrupt society and faced all odds to ensure the word of God was heard.

Imam Elturk said he hopes that individuals will understand and appreciate Prophet Muhammad, and be able to follow him or understand why others do follow him. He wants non-Muslims to inquire more about Prophet Muhammad, and he finds that these kinds of events are important to today’s society, especially with “Islam Phobia” going around. He believes that programs that introduce Islam are very important, and will allow those who do not know much about Islam to learn about it, as well as its traditions and customs.

Imam Elturk’s inspirational words really seemed to stick with the audience. His colleague, Imam Dawud Walid, even stated that it was good to have our leaders and to receive such authentic information about Islam since, as he put it, Muslims tend to be the biggest conveyors of miscommunications. Imam Walid’s words were a great way to sum up the experience of this event and the importance it had on the Muslims and the non-Muslims that attended.

The night was definitely a joyous one, and not just because of how great the food was, but also due to the hard work that was put into the event by Dr. Talaat Pasha (MSA advisor), Monya Ibrahim (president of the MSA), Ghadah Al-Derwish (vice president of MSA), and all of the MSA members. With their participation—including setting up, hosting, and cleaning up—the event came out as a success.

I found myself enjoying the time, and also found myself fascinated by how many places Monya had to be at the event. She truly made herself available at every moment, and efficiently organized the event throughout the night. She was happy to say that the event turned out very well, and she was pleased by how informational it was. Monya found herself growing emotional by the way the Muslim and non-Muslim audience members were listening together. She seemed to have found the entire night exciting.

Well, once again the Muslim Student Association has out done themselves with a day of food, fun games and prizes. I found that the audience truly enjoyed the raffle tickets and the prizes that came with them. It seemed that everyone went home that night with a smile.

In other words, it seems that the Prophet would be pleased with his birthday party!