The Muslim Student Association (MSA) is a club led by juniors Musa Guler and Zareef Tamjid who aim to create a welcoming and safe environment for Muslims at Algonquin.
Before forming the club, both Guler and Tamjid felt as though Muslims were poorly represented at Algonquin. They believed they didn’t have opportunities to practice Islam in day-to-day life at school, so they created MSA. Every Friday in the library after school, the MSA comes together to practice their faith.
Guler had many reasons for why he wanted to create the MSA.
“We aim to portray our religion in a good light, educate people about us and also be a place for Muslims or anyone curious about Islam to go to,” Guler said.
According to Tamjid, one of the reasons MSA is important to its members is logistical. Muslims are obligated to pray multiple times a day, which can be a challenge while at school. Before he helped form the MSA, Tamjid struggled with finding a place to say prayers.
“I initially joined MSA because of my religion; I needed a space to pray in Algonquin,” Tamjid said. “I needed to ask librarians for a space to pray because Muslims need to pray throughout the day.”
Now group members have private space in D110G where they can pray as a group or individuals.
The meetings, which are held every Friday after school, typically include prayer, lessons and discussions and are open to everyone.
“During meetings, we start with a 10-minute prayer, then we plan for different events we could have, and after that, we choose a topic to discuss,” Guler said.
Discussion topics have included personal character, religious topics from their profit, how to act in situations and why they celebrate religious events such as Ramadan.
The meetings also include lessons to educate people who don’t know much about Islam and even those who are well-versed in the faith.
“Every week we have lessons before our prayer that have taught me a lot about the Muslim religion,” Tamjid said.
They spread their faith throughout Algonquin mainly through events, most recently the Iftar dinner, which was open to both Muslim and non-Muslim community members.
Iftar is the meal Muslims eat to break their fast for Ramadan. Both Guler and Tamjid saw the dinner, which was held on March 7 and had over 100 people in attendance, as a huge success for the MSA and it helped many new people learn about the club.
“The Iftar dinner allowed people to know us more,” Guler said. “There were lots of different people at the Iftar dinner. I saw librarians, different people from school, and even people from outside of school.”
Along with the Iftar dinner MSA also holds many smaller events at local mosques with other MSAs from other schools.
“We have had lots of events where we work with other MSAs,” Tamjid said. “Just at our last event, we were at a mosque with a guest speaker talking to us and MSA’s from other schools.”
Even though the club was started just one year ago the members have developed a close bond that transcends just the club.
“Especially because we are a small club at the moment, we are all very close,” Tamjid said. ”We talk every day.”
As MSA continues to grow at Algonquin, Guler and Tamjid hope to welcome more members and educate even more students about Islam. Through prayer, discussions and events like the Iftar dinner, they aim to make Algonquin a more inclusive space for all.
Brady Young • May 22, 2025 at 3:07 pm
love this Jeremy