Salams MSAers! I pray everyone is preparing for their finals and not stressing out too much :)  For those who are graduating - Mabrook!  I pray you continue your activism as you move to the next phase of your life. 

As this is my last Desktop of the academic year, I wanted to start by thanking you for allowing me to serve as the President of MSA National.  The hundreds of e-mails, meetings with students, and constant reminders from my friends that I'm getting my MBA not majoring in MSA have made this year a life changing experience.  Thank you for this honor.

Alhamdulilah, we wrapped up the school year with three successful conferences.  The conferences included dynamic speakers, COMPASS workshops, and networking sessions.  Your Zonal Reps and the local committees did an excellent job organizing the Central Zone USA Zonal Conference in St. Louis, the East Zone USA Zonal Conference in Newark, and the West Zone USA Leadership Conference at Berkeley.  The Canadian Zonal conferences will be held from May 24-25^th in Toronto and May 30-31^st in Winnipeg.May Allah swt bless everyone involved in these efforts. 

At the conferences, we launched the MSA National Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign to empower Muslim youth in the 2008 US Presidential Elections. If you are still interested in participating in this unique program, please e-mail patfchair@msanational.org

 While working on these MSA projects, MSA National also represented Muslim students at dozens of events.  Events included meeting with the Dutch Embassy, speaking about integration at the State Department to a delegation from Italy, facilitating showings of "US vs Al-Arian" to end the human rights violations of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, and working with chapters to reduce anti-Islamic events on campus.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the Pope during his visit to Washington, DC.  On behalf of MSA National I joined other faith leaders from across the U.S. for a meeting with the Pope at Catholic University.  Muslim leaders thanked the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Pope Benedict XVI for the invitation, expressed their desired for continued dialog with the Catholic Church and their hope that the human rights all people, including the Lebanese, will be protected.  

Lastly, the Zonal Reps are also preparing for a nation-wide call to talk about running MSA elections as well as answer questions about civic participation.   "The Ettiquiete (Athab) of Voting: Key Lessons for MSA Workers" presented by Dr. Hattem Bazian will be held this Wednesday, April 30^th.  To learn more, visit  http://www.msanational.org/events

I pray for everyone's success on final papers / exams and finding the perfect summer internship!

InshAllah I hope this reaches you all in the best of states! Alhumdulilah the event that everyone was looking forward to, the East Zone USA Conference 2008, was an memorable one! With over 700 students representing almost all 22 states across the East Zone, it was definitely a great experience for everyone. For those able to attend the conference in New Jersey, they witnessed some amazing lectures done by Shaykh Faraz Robbani, Br. Hesham Mahmoud, Chaplain Khalid Latif and many more respected brothers and sisters! Also we were able to hold two Action Hours throughout the weekend where Muslim students visited a shelter to donate food. Even our brothers and sisters who are part of the Global Deaf Muslim organization were also able to attend the conference! The weekend was truly an unforgettable one. Jazakullah Khair to all the organizers and attendees for making the 2008 MSA National East Zone Conference a huge success!

Now with the semester coming to an end soon, I pray that exams go extremely well for everyone inshAllah! But don't worry, MSA National has one last treat for you before finals! InshAllah we will be having our last MSA National Scholar Call April 30 at 10PM EST with Dr. Hatem Bazian! He will be talking to us about the etiquette of voting so don't miss out! RSVP at msaconferencecall@msanational.org.

Lastly, make sure to check out your zonal web page at www.ezusa.msanational.org to see what is going on in your zone and other MSAs too!

DON'T FORGET! If there is anything your MSA needs, please feel free to contact me at ezrepusa@msanational.org.

Take care,
Wassalaam!

Sumrah Haider
East Zone USA Representative
ezrepusa@msanational.org

I hope everybody had a wonderful and productive spring break. 

On April 19th UC Berkeley hosted a leadership training workshop.  It was available to all MSA's in the west zone.  The leadership training workshop was done through the COMPASS program and they provide leadership training to interested MSA's.  COMPASS is MSA National's management training program. It is designed to assist MSA's in identifying needs, resources and the best way to work within a community.  If you feel that an MSA in your area would be interested in such a program please contact me and we will arrange it.

You should also look out for a monthly conference call that we will be having with a scholar. The call will be open to all MSA students and will include a lecture delivered by a Muslim scholar followed by a live discussion!

JazakAllah khair for all the hard work! Remember that the MSA provides you a forum to do a lot of Islamic and social work. So keep up the good work!

Please feel free to contact me at wzrepusa@msanational.org and keep me in your duas!

Assalamu Alaikum, 

West Zone Canada Stand Up!

Hope everyone is doing great inshaAllah.

Let's get right into it:

A) Scholar Call on April 30th 10:00 pm EST with Dr. Hatem Bazain titled, The Etiquette of Voting: Key Lessons for MSA Workers. RSVP at: msaconferencecall@msanational.org. Make sure you check it and don't forget to tell a friend.

B) West Zone Canada Zonal Conference on May 30-31.

Confirmed speakers:

Dr. Jamal Badawi, Sr. Shahina Siddiqui, Shaykh Ismael Mokhtar and Dr. Idris Elbakri 

We are still working on more so please keep us in your prayers. Biographies of all confirmed speakers will be up on the conference Facebook page by end of the week: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11916606289

I just finished writing my last exam Alhumdulillah, I'm sure everyone one of you is extremely busy at this time of the year. With that said I will try and keep this short. OH YOU WEST ZONERZ WHO BELIEVE, ATTEND THE MAY 30-31st WZ CAN CONFERENCE!!! Additionally, all of my wonderful brothers and sisters on the east are encouraged to attend and don't think I forgot about you northern states. Seriously Minnesotans are pretty much Canadian and y'all are only a few hours drive from Winnipeg :) The weather is going to be nice, the lectures are going to be amazing and the friendships you make will last for a lifetime InshaAllah.  Alrighty let me stick to my word and wrap this up, if you have any questions about the conference (hotel, food, landscape you name it) email your friendly Zonal rep or wzconference2008@gmail.com and ask away. Look forward to seeing some new faces, Take Care peoplez.

Your brother in Islam,

Samir Hassan
West Zone Canada Representative
wzrepcan@msanational.org

MSA National does not endorse and is not responsible for any of the activities, events and projects listed in the E-letter other than those organized by MSA National itself.  The following activities, events and projects are not organized by MSA National:

Campus Ministry has an opening for a Muslim chaplain in residence. The candidate must be no younger than 25 years of age and they must be willing to live in a Georgetown residence hall at the expense of the university - but the chaplain will not, of course, be paid a salary.

The Imam is considering a few applicants as we speak. If you can think of any young, dynamic and qualified candidate for this important position, please have them e-mail their resumes to Imam Yahya Hendi (ymh@georgetown.edu) no later than April the 2nd. The position will only be publicized through word of mouth. Rest assured the Muslim community will have a say in the selection process as well.

Proficiency required in SQL Server 2005 with emphasis on Administration, Backup, Recovery, database mirroring, analysis services, reporting services and business intelligence studio.

Candidate will serve as a SQL Server DBA for the Intranet/Internet projects.

Please contact the email address below for a full list of qualifications and responsibilities.

Salary up to $75/hour.
Green Card or US Citizen only.

Please send your resume to Khalid@bitland.com
For more jobs listing please visit: http://bitland.com/career/career.htm

KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights is currently accepting applications for its 6th Annual Law and Leadership Summer Program (LLSP), taking place  July 14, 2008 to August 1, 2008. This is an intensive, three week full-time training program in Washington, DC. It requires that young women participants live, study, and work on projects together. We are looking for highly motivated and dedicated women who have a commitment to Muslim women's rights, and who seek to advance them from within their religion and culture.

The participants will attend intensive and thought-provoking workshops, which cover a multitude of topics.  The program curriculum will cover four main areas: Islamic Jurisprudence; Comparative Law; Leadership Development, and Conflict Resolution. This is a chance for selected participants to spend a summer in the nation's capital surrounded by fellow Muslim women leaders and scholars from around the world. This is a great opportunity to strengthen your leadership skills by learning about advocacy tailored to your religious and cultural communities, and also to network with other Muslim women leaders, students, and professionals from all over the world. For more information or to receive an application, please call us at 202-234-7302 or email Karamah@karamah. To learn more about the organization, please visit www.karamah.org.

Internship with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)

Interested in an Internship Position with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)?

Develop your professional skills and boost your resumes while contributing to the community. 
CIOGC Announces Available Internships in the following areas:

Research
Fundraising
Journalism/Chicago Crescent
Photography & Videography
Graphic Design
Youth Development
Event Coordination

Please send your resume to youth@ciogc.org

MSA National congratulates all of the MSA students involved in making the Central Zone USA and East Zone USA Zonal conference a success. May God bless you and reward you!