The members of the Muslim Student Association pose for a photo together at SFSU’s Jack Adams Hall on April 28, 2023. (Tâm Vũ / Golden Gate Xpress) (Tam Vu)
The members of the Muslim Student Association pose for a photo together at SFSU’s Jack Adams Hall on April 28, 2023. (Tâm Vũ / Golden Gate Xpress)
The Muslim Student Association hosted a banquet in celebration of Eid on Friday. The enchanted forest themed banquet was MSA’s final event for this semester to highlight MSA graduates and announce its new leadership board for Fall 2023.
Eid is a month-long period of fasting, prayer and community building for Muslims to thank Allah for the holy Quran, which was first revealed during the month of Ramadan.
Khadeejah Dos, the current vice president of MSA, spoke about the significance of hosting the event for the community.
“This is an important event for people who live on campus that can’t go back home and celebrate with their families,” Dos said. “They can come here with our members and everyone else to celebrate [Eid] together.”
Sheikh Salah Al Bakri, a former member of the SF State Muslim Student Association, gives the current members a speech about his advice for preparing for life after graduation at SF State’s Jack Adams Hall on April 28, 2023. (Tâm Vũ / Golden Gate Xpress)
The event commenced with two speakers who discussed the importance of fasting and prayer, balancing fasting with a hectic daily routine, making the time for prayer and having a plan for one’s life and career.
The event continued on with dinner and a break for prayer, after which they announced the MSA graduates, awards for members and the new MSA Board for Fall 2023.
Somaya Furkhunda was elected as MSA’s new president and Farhan Haider was elected as its new vice president.
The dinner was disrupted by an attendee who ruined table decor and spilled food and drinks on the table. This individual wasn’t affiliated with MSA and a representative from Associated Students was at the scene speaking to attendees who were sharing a dinner table with this individual.
Dos was witness to the incident and described how the individual was disrupting the event. “I was sitting [at] a table behind the incident with a group of girls because I wanted to check in,” she said. “I look over after talking to the girls and this person is already grabbing the tablecloth on the table next to him and completely making a mess of the decorations that took hours to set up.”
MSA is no stranger to experiencing disturbances. Last semester, an anonymous MSA member witnessed students praising Satan in a designated prayer room at the Cesar Chavez Student Center.
However, the disruption did not take away from the special occasion. There was a turnout of approximately 50 people with MSA members’ families and friends in attendance participating in the celebration of Eid and the organization’s semester.
Ruqaiyah Angeles, an MSA member graduating this semester, described how they wanted to host more Islamic events for the community and for its incoming Spring 2023 members.
“We started to pick up traction and we had a lot of events like bonfires and volunteering events,” Angeles said. “We had community iftars for people that wanted to learn about Islam and students who don’t have anyone to break fast with because this is a commuter school.”
Ishaan Pratap (he/him) was born in New York and is a 4th year print and online journalism major at San Francisco State. In his free time he enjoys video games, hanging out with friends, and watching soccer. He joined the journalism program because he's passionate about social issues like housing and city politics.
Tâm Vũ (she/her) is a Vietnamese-American photographer for Golden Gate Xpress and Xpress Magazine. She is a fourth-year photojournalism major with a minor in Asian American studies. She originally entered SF State as a print and online journalism major, but switched to photojournalism in her second year after finding her passion for visual storytelling. Her special interests include Asian American identity and music journalism. In the near future, she hopes to make a video documentary on her parents' immigration story to highlight the generational impact that the Vietnam War has on many families. Outside of school, she loves to attend live music shows, find new music, and crochet.
