VOTING PERIOD: April 3-5 from 12-4pm at ISC
Come out and vote for the 2007-08 MSA Executives! Voting is taking place April 3-5 at ISC from 12-4pm. Please make sure you bring valid student ID with you and that you’re subscribed to our mailing list. If you aren’t, it’s easy to get on…just send an email to msa.exec@utoronto.ca by midnight Monday. These are your future execs, so come out and make your vote count!

MISSING PHONE: A phone was lost on Friday, February 2, at the MSA banquet in the William Doo Hall. It’s a black LG slide phone. If anyone knows its whereabout please email msa.exec@utoronto.ca.

MAKE SANDWICHES FOR THE HOMELESS: The number of homeless people is on the rise, and here is your chance to make a difference. Join us on Friday, February 16 from 2-5 pm at the Bahen Prayer Space (near Megabites cafe) and help us make sandwiches for Toronto’s homeless. For more information, email msa_comm@yahoo.ca.

MSA GOES DOWNHILL…SKIING!: On Monday, February 19, seven MSAs from five different universities across Ontario will be going downhill together at the Horseshoe Valley ski resort (about 1.5 hours driving from Toronto). Join us on the slopes for the cheapest price in town – tickets are $40 for skiing and $50 for snow boarding, and can be purchased after Jumuah prayers at Hart House, after Duhr and Maghrib prayers at the Bahen prayer space, and at the UTSU (formerly SAC) office. The last day to buy tickets is Friday, February 16. For more information about the trip, please visit http://muslim.sa.utoronto.ca or email msa.bro.events@gmail.com.

by Tazeen Siddiqui

Celebrating Eid a full month after the fact, more than 200 party-goers attended the MSA Banquet for a night of good food, good people and good times.

The night got underway with an awe-inspiring welcome speech delivered by our fearless commander-in-chief, Shuaib Ally, followed up by a speech from Hamza Karamali. The talk on community involvement was interspersed with threats that dinner would be delayed by 2 hours. Panic struck the hearts of all in attendance, but mercifully, it did not actually go on for 2 hours, and ended with a delightful tale about orangutans (I kid you not) before we moved into the entertainment portion of the evening.

The first movie featured the cream of the MSA crop skillfully answering baffling questions, such as “What is the capital of Ontario?” and “What is your favourite tv show?” Dinner came next and was followed up with the highlight of the banquet: imported entertainment. Unable to rummage up our own homegrown talent, we cleverly decided to outsource and recruit Mac MSA members for the daunting task of keeping UofT MSA-ers thoroughly amused. The comedic stylings of Omair Rahman and Hamzah Moin (aka “Maniac Muslim”) left the masses in fits of laughter.

The second —and last— video featured a rousing rendition of “Yusuf”—a distorted twist on “Aicha”— by Foblandish and made it evident that UofT is in fact able to muster up some talent. The Oscar-esque thank you speech that followed unfortunately left out some names as applause slowly drowned out Foblandish…

Putting our own twist on the age-old Raffle, the Banquet organizer, Fadia Bahgat rhyming off ticket numbers from the top of her head for the prize-giveaway that capped off the evening. Oh, and T-shirt throwing.

Enjoy the visuals…

THE VARSITY AGM: The Varsity student newspaper is having its Annual Meeting this Thursday, January 25, at 6pm in The Varsity offices located inside the UofT Sussex Clubhouse (21 Sussex Ave., 2nd floor). The Varsity’s members will be voting whether to adopt changes in its by-laws; proposed changes can be viewed at www.thevarsity.ca. All full-time undergraduate students are considered members of The Varsity Corporation and are welcome to attend the meeting.

TAJWEED HALAQA: The Tajweed halaqa will resume this Thursday, January 25, 2007 in BA2195 after Maghrib prayers. The halaqa is open to all and special accommodations are available for sisters.

Please note that the location of the Sisters’ Eid Dessert night has changed. It will now be held at Sidney Smith (100 St. George Street), room 2108, on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 5:30 pm.

Hope to see you all (i.e. sisters) there!

Need a break from class? Meet fellow MSA and exec members over FREE refreshements served after Duhr (afternoon) prayers this Tuesday, January 16 at the Bahen prayer space.

Dear MSA Member,

On behalf of the Muslim Students’ Association, Eid Mubarak! We wish you and your loved ones a joyful Eid and pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala showers upon us his His mercy and blessings on this blessed occassion.

After much anticipation, the second issue of The Muslim Voice has been finally released. One glance at the glossy cover will reveal the wait has been well worth it. Not to give you any spoilers, but the layout is beyond cool.

Copies are available at the International Student Centre, the Bahen prayer space, the Sussex Club House and the MSA Office (21 Sussex Ave., Suite 405), and after Jumuah prayers at Hart House. And be sure to come back here and voice your approval or disapproval. An email to the editor would work as well – muslimvoice@yahoo.ca.

On Thursday, November 30, the MSA joined Campus for Christ in an Interfaith Dialogue, seeking to promote dialogue and understanding between Muslims and Christians. The event featured Shabir Ally and Tony Costa, who answered questions about the essentials of their respective faiths, and Sawitri Mardyani and Valera Strugov, who talked about their religious experience as students. This was followed by a lively and at times heated question and answer session.

The event was, Alhamdulillah, a success. About 120 people attended, both Muslims and Christians alike. Many stayed behind afterwards to chat with the speakers and other attendees. Some commented that we need to do more to better understand each other, and that similar interfaith events should be planned in the future. What do you think?