US Female Muslim Students Want Group
“It’s really our job to create that sense of ummah and unite us,” Fahmo Mohammed, a 19-year-old senior majoring in journalism and international studies in Oregon University, told Daily Emerald.
For Mohamed, her small Muslim ummah was represented in female Muslim students in Oregon.
Yet, with no group representing them, she decided to get involved to change the current circumstances.
Known as a hard worker, Mohamed started working with Sabeen Waqar — a close friend — to form the Women Muslim Student Association, the first group specifically for female Muslim students.
The two founders of the WMSA are currently working with the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) to gain official recognition for the group, expecting to win it by the end of winter term.
Awaiting the new group, Mohammed noted that the new group will allow female Muslim students to study their religion and educate the university community about their faith.
Mohamed added that a religious group specifically for women gives its members the opportunity to socialize more easily.
“When women come together, obviously we don’t have to be veiled,” Mohammed said.
“Women unveil themselves. We just talk. There’s more social activity.”
When Mohammed approached the MSA, the group, which was already in the process of trying to get more female students involved, was excited about the idea.
“I was so happy about it,” Abdulrhman Aljaafari, current member of MSA and previously the group’s secretary, said.
“I told her I was going to do my best to help her out.”
In addition to their roles as vice president and president of the WMSA, Mohammed and Waqar also serve on the council for the MSA.
The group was also expected to offer female students a chance to correct misconceptions about Islam, including hijab and niqab, or face-veil.
Source: On Islam
