Inside A Muslim Fraternity: No Alcohol, But Plenty Of Community Service

This story is partial of a array on Muslim college students:

Masud Rahman is a mathematics-computer scholarship sophomore during a University of California, San Diego, where he serves as a rush chair for Alpha Lambda Mu, a country’s first Muslim fraternity

Rahman says he has not gifted taste on campus for his faith. For over a decade, a Muslim Students Association has orderly an annual “Islam Awareness Week,” where students accumulate in front of a library “letting everybody know what Islam is and violation stereotypes,” Rahman said.

He primarily chose UCSD for a standing and a STEM module — and for another reason, one that many college students can describe to: “I’m creatively from Northern California, so we wanted to get a small bit distant divided from my parents.”

Rahman spoke with The Huffington Post about Alpha Lambda Mu and a significance of carrying a common village of faith. Here’s his story, as told to Alexandra Svokos:

I consider carrying village is a unequivocally good approach to strengthen faith and stay some-more committed to sacrament and to feel something in common with other Muslims. A lot of us who are entrance here from high propagandize or village college are used to a some-more eremite background. Although of march we have things in common with other students, we wish to associate with people identical to us.

I’d contend many Muslims consider their sacrament is unequivocally critical to them — unequivocally for me, that’s a case. It’s something we don’t wish to lose. So to associate with others who have this common temperament helps out.

Something singular here during UCSD is we indeed have a Muslim companionship on campus, ALM — Alpha Lambda Mu — and we am a member of that. That’s a unequivocally cold thing. It only got started final year; we assimilated nearby a finish of final year. It incorporates tools of companionship society and bonding, and we also have a Muslim values set in. We’re partial of a college’s IFC (Interfraternity Council).

We go by Islamic values, so we theory we are kind of set detached from other fraternities. We’re a totally dry fraternity, and that’s a outrageous thing. We don’t have any parties or formals, per se. But we concentration on some-more of a certain aspects of giving, village service, carrying hospitality and things like that. So distant it’s been going unequivocally well.

ALM during a Mar 2015 initiation.

My frat “bros,” we can call them, are all Muslim so far. We’ve also helped out with a Muslim Student Association a lot and with creation a Muslim village stronger. we consider a companionship and MSA are unequivocally valuable.

We’re a Beta section of a fraternity. The Alpha section was started during a University of Texas during Dallas. So distant we have 4 chapters, during least. On a East Coast, a Gamma section is during Cornell University. Our Delta section is during San Diego State University, that is unequivocally tighten to us. We have a few others incubating, we consider one in Florida and Penn State. It’s expanding all over a country.

Our demographic is kind of some-more unique, so we try to concentration recruitment on students in a MSA. Obviously it’s open to all, though members of a MSA are substantially many prone to join.

I’m a rush chair for a fraternity. We have events during a rush week, that is a commencement of any entertain (since we’re on a entertain system). We start with an info night, only like any other fraternity, where we tell them a small bit about it. We have 3 or 4 events, fastening things. We’ve finished bowling, pizza night, only like unresolved out.

Then we have bid night. These new pledges are offering a bid, and if they accept, they go by during slightest one entertain of impending member standing and they’re instituted during a finish of a quarter. It’s identical to many other fraternities.

We unequivocally incorporate a Islamic aspect of it. One of a mandate is that to be initiated, we have to memorize partial of a Quran. That’s unique.

The companionship strengthens all a faith and a brotherhood, a community. It’s done a university improved overall, so that’s flattering cool.

This talk has been precipitated and edited for clarity.

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/muslim-fraternity-uc-san-diego_n_6818404.html?utm_hp_ref=los-angeles&ir=Los+Angeles