السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته 

AsSalaamu alaykum MSA Family! Welcome to the next edition of the MSA newsletter! We’ve got plenty in store for you all in the month of October, but first, let’s recap a bit of September. Read along for updates and lookaheads:

Efforts towards getting Halal food on campus

• Due to the lack of Halal meal options on campus, many students are facing food insecurity, and the University has yet to provide us with a sustainable solution. The MSA has been working diligently with the Dining team and University administrators to ensure progress is made. We will now be having regular meetings with the Dining team and have the full support of the Dean of Students, the Director of Religious and Spiritual Life, the Student Government Association, the International Center, and many others. Inshallah a consistent, permanent, and accessible solution is coming soon.

• We need a lot of help to make Halal food on campus permanent- please take the time to sign this petition to show UK that offering halal food to its students is a necessity.

  • https://forms.gle/giGLrt8wPcDHo1GA8

  • we currently have OVER 600 SIGNATURES!!

• For now, use the link below to schedule a meeting with the UK Dietician for immediate needs and to discuss setting up individualized meal plans. 

  https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/UKDiningDietitian@aramark365.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/ 

Many of you are aware that Eiffel Pizza Co. was the only consistent halal restaurant in UK Dining. They have been proudly serving the Muslims on campus since 2020 and the Muslims of Lexington for much longer. Unfortunately, as of October 1st, they have officially left their station and will no longer be serving meals in the dining halls. The team at Eiffel has expressed that they loved being at UK and were so happy to have been able to offer halal food to the community here. However, due to the circumstances, they had to leave.

On September 26th, Eiffel Pizza hosted the Muslims on campus to an incredibly delicious feast to say thank you and goodbye. JazakAllah khayr to everyone for coming out and showing their support to Eiffel. MashaAllah, we had a beautiful turnout.

Brother Mohamed, Sister Halima, and everyone in the Eiffel family are so grateful and happy for everyone’s support.

May Allah reward them for providing us with a beautiful meal, and for the meals they have provided our community over the years. May Allah bless them for their efforts in providing halal food on campus. May Allah make these times easy on them and present them with incredible opportunities. Ameen

Service opportunities this October:

SHARE Lunch

• SHARE Lunch was hosted on 9/2 and 9/16 and a total of 132 lunches were served Alhamdulillah

• October’s SHARE Lunches will be on 10/7,10/21

SHARE Community Garden

• Come garden at the SHARE Center community garden on 10/20!

LUA Tutoring 

• LUA tutoring will be every Wednesday from 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm starting October 11th. If you are interested in becoming a tutor join the LUA Tutors GroupMe! Click here to join: https://groupme.com/join_group/96990699/hs5M9YnS 

Charity Week

• I am very excited to announce that the UKY MSA will once again be partnering with Charity Week! Charity Week is an international non-profit organization dedicated to raising money for orphans and children in need around the world. Charity Week partners with several organizations around the world who all host their own unique fundraising events during one week in the year. This year’s Charity Week will take place from October 23rd-29th. Those who participated last year remember how fun and rewarding it was, so make sure to be on the lookout for Charity Week fundraiser announcements on our GroupMe and instagram (@ukymsa)!

Dr. Palmer Hadith Class

• Hadith Classes will take place in Whitehall where Dr. Palmer is offering FREE classes about the 40 hadiths by Imam An-Nawawi every other Thursday. The October Hadith Class will be on the 5th and 19th of this month In sha’Allah!

Fajr and Folgers

• Fajr and Folgers will be happening twice a month now In sha’Allah! This month’s will be held on the 20th and the 27th of October! We meet in the mediation room in the William T Library. We start off the day praying fajr together, reading the first and last 10 Ayats of Surah Kahf, and then going to Starbucks to grab a coffee and play games! The first event had a wonderful turn out Alhamdulillah!

Jummah Salah/Friday Prayer

• Jummah Salah happens every Friday at the MLK Center at 2 PM! If you are interested in giving a Khutbah, please reach out! If you would like to write a khutbah for a Khatib to deliver, reach out and that can be arranged as well!

AsSalaamu Alaykum everyone! Alhamdulilah September was a very successful month! We had some super fun events, and we have some super exciting things to look forward to.

What we did this month:
Back to School Picnic

• We had our annual back to school picnic at Jacobson Park with an excellent turn out! The intention of this event was to welcome everyone back to school and welcome new members into the MSA. We had yummy food and played spike ball, volleyball, and soccer. As the night wrapped up we watched a beautiful sunset SubhanAllah, and finished the night off with a wonderful halaqa from Mahmoud Shalash about the oneness of Allah. Thank you to everyone who showed out and made it such a memorable event. More photos from the event can be found in the gallery section of the newsletter!
  

Beads and Bonding

• Beads and Bonding was a new event to our MSA. This was a combined halaqa and social event, with the intention of getting to know new members and building new friendships for the sake of Allah. Imam Coovadia gave a beautiful halaqa about the importance of sisterhood and brotherhood in Islam. After the halaqa, we made bracelets and masbaha. InshaAllah this event was beneficial for all who attended! Again, photos from the event can be found in the gallery section of the newsletter!

Upcoming Events

Annual MSA Bonfire

• InshaAllah our big social event for October is the annual bonfire! This event is a super fun tradition in our MSA. There will be fire (duh), food, Maghrib, hayrides, smores, and a halaqa. We hope to see everyone there iA!

  When: October 13th, 6:00PM

  Where: Eckert’s Orchard, 1396 Pinckard Pike, Versailles, KY 40383

  *There will be an entrance fee. If you need help covering it, please reach out to a board member!

  **Also keep in mind the event is NOT on campus so please reach out to a board member as soon as possible if you need ride accommodations.

  
  

AsSalaamu Alaykum everyone! Here is the last month in photos 😊

Back to School Picnic Gallery:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-M82Sxxf_96fawm146czUmM5f0oEF2W7?usp=sharing 

• Courtesy of Adam Agoub & Jenna Gorman!

September General Body Meeting, Eiffel Pizza Dinner Party, and Beads & Bonding!

https://www.najmaamarphotos.com/-eiffelhalaldinnerparty/gallery 

• GBM – Adam Agoub

• Beads & Bonding – Jenna Gorman

Notes from the Treasurer

Asalaam Alaikum Warahmatullahe Wabarakatuhu everyone. 

As you all may know, this past month of September, there were two devastating disasters that hit North Africa. An earthquake in Morocco killed at least 2,900 people and affected almost 300,000 people, and then shortly after, a flood hit the city of Derna in Libya as a result of dams collapsing due to Storm Daniel. As of today, the death toll has surpassed 20,000 people and over 51,000 people have been displaced.

These people are in need of support, both through dua and resources. Alhamdulilah, the MSA and the Muslim community in Lexington have come together to try and gather funds that will be used to help support the people of Morocco and Libya. 

• Here is a link that will take you to a GoFundMe that is for the people affected in Libya. Alhamdulilah we have reached our goal and raised $5,000!!! This GoFundMe will close on Friday, October 5th, so please continue to donate while you can.

  • https://gofund.me/94cd9013

• Here is a link for the people of Morocco. The link will take you to the website of Islamic Relief USA where they have several different causes to help.

  • https://irusa.org/middle-east/morocco/ 

• This is the linktree for the UKYMSA and we have a list of organizations you can donate to if you have a preference plus some additional information on stuff happening in our organization.

  • https://shorturl.at/ajqIW 

Dues

• Just a quick reminder that if you want to be a member for this year, you will need to pay your dues. It is $20 until midterm of this semester which is October 23. After midterm, the fee will be $25. Please consider paying dues as it supports our organization, which will then help us support you. JazakAllah Khair.

Notes from the Secretary:

Subcommittees

• Congratulations to everyone selected for a subcommittee! For new subcommittee members, please make sure to maintain contact with your respective board members starting as soon as possible. (I promise we’re all mad chill fr!!!)

T-shirt and Merch Design Contest

• Thank you to all who participated in the Merch Design contest! We voted on this winner at the October General Body Meeting. Information on pricing and how to order your shirts is coming very soon!!!

Please contact me or other board members if you have any concerns or questions about dues, shirts, or anything else in general!

To stay involved and updated, join the MSA reminders groupchat on groupme, follow us on Instagram, and check out our bbnvolved page and website!!

Before you go, here is a du’aa for our theme of the year- Taqwa & Tawakkul:

Hadith of Sunan Abu Dawood 5081,

حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ

Transliteration: HasbiyAllahu laa ilaaha illa huwa alayhi tawakkaltu wa huwa Rabbul arshil adheem.

TRANSLATION OF THIS DUA:

“Allah is sufficient for me. There is none worthy of worship but Him. I have placed my trust in Him. He is the Lord of the Majestic throne.”

RECITING SEVEN TIMES ACCORDING TO HADITH:

“if anyone says seven times morning and evening […] Allah will be sufficient for him against anything which grieves him, whether he is true or false in (repeating) them.”

The belief is that in reciting this seven times whatever he desires will come true.

That wraps up the October newsletter. As always, follow our Instagram (@UKYMSA) and join our GroupMe for more updates and announcements. Until next month, 👋

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته