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HU: The Mecca of HBCUs - A Cultivation of Culture by: Sultan Diego Sulayman

Diversity within the Muslim community at Howard University is immense. The

following students are a glimpse of our cultural range.

Bailaou Diallo Bailaou Diallo is a senior international business

major with a concentration in finance from the

Bronx, NY by way of Guinea Conakry. She is a first-

generation hijabi Fulani. Her plan after graduation is

to work as a technology consultant. She's also a

new wife and mother. She loves the inclusion and

community she experiences as a Muslimah on

campus. Bailaou will graduate magna cum laude

and has a job waiting for her with Accenture.

Hassan Karim is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Graduate

School’s College of Engineering and Architecture.

His focus is on computer science by researching

cybersecurity. He plans to expand his company,

Stable Cyber, through research development that

will develop applications and tools. Hassan

describes himself as a “Quran-and-sunnah

following American Muslim with strong

revolutionary pan-African roots.”

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Imazul Qadir from Chicago, is a third-year medical student at the

College of Medicine. He’s a graduate of Howard’s

BS/MD program which allows students to finish

their BS degree in two years and then go to med

school. He wants to become a trauma surgeon.

Imaz, as most call him, was inspired to become a

surgeon after attending his first gunshot victim at

Howard University Hospital. He personally believes

that becoming a trauma surgeon is the closest thing

he can do to become Batman.

A'isha Taha is a transfer sophomore political science major.

Born in North Carolina, and raised in Qatar, A’isha

identifies as a Nubian American Muslimah. Being

Nubian means reconnecting with her Sudanese

identity, obscured and lost after Muhammad Ali's

expansion. Being a Black Muslimah means having

the tenacity to work harder than everyone else,

especially under the current conditions in

America. She wants to be a lawyer, like her

parents.

Nasra Ahmed is a rising junior health management major from

Fairfax, Va. with goals of working as a Hospital

Administrator. She’s always believed the Hijab was

part of her identity; symbolizing who she is as a

Black Muslim Woman. “The Hijab symbolizes my

identity because it is not simply just a piece of fabric

draped over my body to conceal beauty and

preserve modesty, but it's also a physical

manifestation of my submission and connection to

my Lord and an external representation of my

inward spirituality.”

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Howard University's Muslim Students Association

Ramadan

Accommodations by: Maria Nasir

Religious accommodation requests, such as “Can I be excused from class to say my

prayers?” or “Can I be late to class to attend Jummah prayer service?” by college

students often make them feel awkward and anxious to get through what they

perceive to be a difficult conversation. It seems to be the constitutional right that

people are most apologetic about exercising. It seems that requests for religious

accommodations are dwarfed in our minds by other tenets of the constitution that

provide the right to free speech or the right to petition the government for a redress

of grievances. The First Amendment also speaks to the legislature’s restrictions on

passing laws that establish a religion or limit the free exercise thereof.

Religious accommodations allow people of faith to navigate through a secular world.

The United States adopted the view of religious liberty as a protected right with the

passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA. This legislation allows

people to obtain relief from governmental action that has substantially burdened

their religious rights, 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(a)-(b). There are currently 31 states that have

RFRA-like provisions in place, either through legislation or by state court decisions.

These provisions ensure that, even within states, religious liberty may only be limited

by in the least restrictive manner possible.

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America is home to people of numerous

faiths. Religious freedom is one of the core

liberties valued by our society. Universities

and schools could be transformed if

students understood the kind of power

they have to advocate for believers of

their faith. There are several ways the

RFRA-like provisions can help open doors

to make accommodations for students,

like offering a meditation space on each

campus or changing exam timings so that

students can observe their fasts and still

be able to perform fully. Consider

Ramadan (the month of fasting from

sunrise to sunset) when it comes during

finals season. The argument can be made

that fasting almost 16 hours a day can be

quite enervating. Facing intense

coursework may affect your health and

overall performance as a student while

fasting. Acknowledging that a group of

students who are devoted to their religion

have alternatives that could help them

keep up to par in performance with other

students can be done within the confines

of America’s legal system. As a student at

Howard University’s School of Law, I did

not know about the religious

accommodations available to students

during Ramadan. It was not until I met

another Muslim student from

Georgetown Law at the 2019 UDC Muslim

Law Symposium that my eyes opened to

the possibilities. Before this, I would just

take my finals while fasting or excuse

myself from the fast and make the day up

later, depending on my own judgment of

my capabilities.

It just seemed normal for me to accept

the protocols in place at the university,

instead of asking if my fasting could be

regarded with the same importance as I

regarded it—as my first priority.

When the thought did creep into my mind,

I felt hesitant about asking my professors

or administrative offices, as if asking for

accommodations just an “excuse” or that

it was making things harder for others.

However, having learned about the law

and the way we can use it to advocate for

things we hold to be valuable and

important, I’ve been able to rise above

that thinking. We must strive for what is

best for Muslim students and the

institutions they attend by working

collaboratively. In this way we can live up

to our values. If one school is able to

advocate for their Ramadan

accommodations, that school can help

further the interests of other students

attending different schools and

universities. Georgetown’s Muslim Law

Student Association sent me information

on their request for Ramadan

accommodations and their letters of

support. This information helped me ask

my Dean if students observing the

Ramadan fast could receive

accommodations during our finals season.

I also presented a few suggestions that

would help.

P A G E 24

Muslim prayer space at Georgetown University

Students should know what kind of

accommodations may be available to

them if they reach out to the right offices

on campus and ask for them. It is also

very possible another MSA has already

paved the way for making that change,

so communications between institutions

should be encouraged. As we enjoy

Ramadan, I encourage faculty, staff, and

students to inspire change for believers

of their faith at their institutions. Write a

general request that explains the

background of the practice, what you

hope to achieve, and list a few

alternatives that the institution could

consider implementing for you.

Along with your request, it may help to

back up the initiative by showing that

other organizations like yours have been

able to secure these accommodations for

their students. This can be done through

directly collecting letters of support from

those organizations or drafting your own

document where you list the research

done on those practices. Keep in touch

with the administrative offices so your

issue is given the importance that it

deserves. The responsibility of affecting

change lies before you. Strengthen your

relationship with other Muslim

communities around you, so advocacy and

ideas will flow interchangeably to impact

even more universities.

"Do not worry, God is with us" - Qur'an 9:40

May Allah bless and guide our efforts. Amin.

P A G E 25

Blyden and

DuBois on Islam by: Dr. Hakim M. Rashid

Dr. W.E.B. DuBois

Edward Wilmot Blyden

Two of the most influential thinkers in African

American history are Edward Wilmot Blyden

and W.E.B. DuBois. Blyden was born to free

Blacks on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and came

to the United States in 1850 to study theology

at Rutgers University. After being rejected

because of his race, he migrated to Liberia with

the support of the American Colonization

Society. There, he began to advocate for the

unity of Africans throughout the diaspora.

DuBois was born in Great Barrington,

Massachusetts in 1868, and had a distinguished

career as a sociologist, historian, and civil rights

icon before his death in Ghana in 1963. Each of

these scholars had a perspective on Islam that

was developed through their extensive contacts

with Muslims in Africa and their study of Islam

on the continent. Marcus Garvey, one of the

greatest figures in the Pan African struggle had

the following to say about Blyden:

You who do not know anything of your ancestry will do well to read the works

of Blyden, one of our historians and chroniclers, who have done so much to

retrieve the lost prestige of the race, and to undo the selfishness of alien

historians and their history which has painted us so unfairly. Dr. Blyden is

such an interesting character to study that I take pleasure in reproducing the

following passages from his ‘Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race’. 1

“

P A G E 26

“ Blyden had the following to say about

the Qur'an:

The Koran is, in its measure, an important educator. It exerts among a

primitive people a wonderful influence. It has furnished to the adherents of its

teachings in Africa a ground of union which has contributed vastly to their

progress. Hausas, Foulahs, Mandingoes, Soosoos, Akus, can all read the same

books and mingle in worship together, and there is to all one common

authority and one ultimate umpirage. They are united by a common religious

sentiment, by a common antagonism to Paganism. 2

Blyden noted that the struggle to establish

Islam in Africa was a topic worthy of

serious consideration:

To the Mohammedans of Negroland, far away from the complex civilization of

European life, with its multifarious interests, the struggle for the ascendency

of Islam is one great object which should engage the attention of a rational

being. It is a struggle between light and darkness, between knowledge and

ignorance, between good and evil. 3

DuBois’ perspective on Islam is noteworthy

because he refers to Mecca as part of

Africa, and not the term “Middle East.” He

noted that Islam “arose in the Arabian

deserts, starting from Mecca which was in

that part of the world which the Greeks

called Ethiopia, and regarded as part of

African Ethiopia.” 4

Timbuktu, West Africa's greatest Muslim city

“To this ancient culture, modified somewhat by Byzantine and Christian

influences, came Islam… The Mohammedans came chiefly as traders and

found a trade already established. Here and there in the great cities were

districts set aside for these new merchants, and the Mohammedans gave

frequent evidence of their respect for these black nations. Islam did not found

new states but modified and united Negro states already ancient; it did not

initiate new commerce, but developed a widespread trade already

established.”5

“

“

P A G E 27

A mosque in Ethiopia

Understanding the perspectives of Blyden and

DuBois (their terminology

notwithstanding) regarding Islam is critical in

the current climate of Islamophobia that is so

rampant in the West. African Americans need

to appreciate the viewpoints of their historical

intellectual giants, scholars who were not

bound by the Eurocentric biases toward Islam

so prevalent today. Even scholars reflecting

African centered perspectives have been

influenced by the false notion that Arabia is

somehow distinct from Africa and that Islam

is somehow a “foreign” religion. This is false

from historical, cultural, and linguistic

perspectives and not at all consistent with

DuBois’ notion of “African Ethiopia”. Blyden

and DuBois saw clearly that Islam was a

liberating force in Africa – a force that

enhanced African identity rather than

destroying it.

A European depiction of Mansa Musa,

Sultan of the Malian Empire

Works Cited

1. (Cited in Hill, The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association

Papers, BVol. I, p. 57)

2. (Edward Wilmot Blyden, Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race, 1887)

3. (Blyden, p. 9)

4. (Cited in Young, p.212)

5. (Dubois, The Negro, 1915, p. 29)

Art

Na'at

Stricken with longing, your name I whisper

A lover, a nightingale I’ve become

A seeker of your countenance am I

My Master you are, my Beloved One

O Hope of sinners, o Cure of the sick!

O Faith’s Shining Sun, o Light of Mercy!

Forever your lowly servant am I

Forever in need of you I shall be

O Moonlike Shah, o Chosen of God!

O Healer of our hearts, o Firmest Hand-Hold!

Than Kawthar’s water your love is sweeter

Than heaven you are sweeter to behold

-Adjzi

The Idolhouse

I came upon an idolhouse called “my heart”

I sought the idolaters but found it empty

Of what strange religion is this a temple?

As if a great secret it were telling me

In the main hall a strange thing did I witness

Upon the head-idol’s face hung a mirror

In the mirror my countenance I beheld

‘Neath my breast did my soul in terror shiver

I heard from within me a voice resounding

“Lo! Manifested is thine reality!

Think not what thou seest before thee astounding

‘Tis but the fruit of travelling heedlessly!

Hear, o Adjzi, purified this place must be!

Restored it must be to its Owner, the One

So purge the idols, make of them scattered dust

Raise aloft the banner of ‘the Truth has come.’”

-Adjzi

Our Staff Ismail Allison, junior psychology major-sociology minor from

DC. Editor-in-Chief.

Dr. Nisa Muhammad, Office of the Dean of the Chapel

Assistant Dean for Religious Life. Editor

Nur Shaina Ayers, School of Divinity Graduate student.

Editor

Sultan Diego Sulayman, senior business major from

Montgomery County, MD. Writer

Keith Brown, sophomore medical engineering student

from DC. Writer

A'isha Taha, sophomore political science major from

Sudan. Writer

Maria Nasir, School of Law student from Karachi,

Pakistan. Writer

Soha Mohammed, sophomore biology major from

Springfield, VA. Cover artist

Want to join us? Email us at alqalamhumsa@gmail.com

Our Board of Advisors

Dr. Bernard Richardson, HU Dean of the Chapel.

Advisory Board Chair

Dr. Zainab Alwani, Associate Professor of Islamic

Studies, School of Divinity. Advisor

Dr. Hakim M. Rashid, Professor, School of

Education. Advisor

Dr. Bahiyyah Muhammad, Assistant Professor,

Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Advisor

Dr. Altaf Husain, Assistant Professor, School of

Social Work. Advisor