Monrovia – Members of the Muslim Students Association of the Africa Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU- MSA) on April 26, 2017 held their association official launching and fund raising program on the campus of the AMEU on Camp Johnson Road.
Report by Macaulay Sombai, macaulay.sombai@[email protected]
During the program, the Assistant Minister for Expenditure at the Ministry of Finance who served as guess speaker said it is the responsibility of all Muslims students to make sure to demonstrate the core value or core principles of Islam in their daily activities.
Alieu F. Nyei who is also an alumnus of the AMEU and founding member of AMEU-MSA, told the students that he was on their campus to tell them what it means to be a Muslim in a Christian institution like the AME University.
He began by saying that there are so many misconceptions about Islam and that those misconceptions start from at the community level, to high schools, universities and it goes to the work places. He said these misconceptions are also sometimes carried into government and leadership.
“Because of the misconception of Islam, you sometimes listen to people in authority making statement that demonstrate comprehensive lack of knowledge in all respects on a particular issue.”
Mr. Nyei made it clear to the students that as Muslims both male and female they needed to be modest in the way they appear in public and they must always try to keep themselves far from anything that goes against Islam and the laws of the country.
Says Nyei: “You know very well as a Muslim you need to be modest in the way you appear in public both male and female, and you need to uphold that. Also as Muslim when you are in a class and other students want to cheat try to exclude yourself from it. “
“As a Muslim student if you observe your comrades trying to put ideas together to do something that is wrong try to oppose it, if you cannot oppose it try not to form part of it.”
He continued that being a Muslim is not just about saying you are Muslim but there is more to it.
“The way we compose ourselves in the public, we send so many massages to people around about our faith, and if you are a Muslim for example, after school you see your friends going out and you decided to go with them and all of you drink and get drunk, no one else will take you seriously the next time, and whenever you call yourself Muslim others will say that’s how they are”.
Mr. Nyei said Muslims are like all other humans and that they too are liable to human shortcomings, but added that as a Muslim an individual does wrong, like getting involved in corruption, that corruption would not only affect his or her family, but also the image of his or her dear religion Islam would be tarnished.
He conveyed that followers of Islam need to keep away from corruption because Islam is totally against it, and the act of corruption tarnishes the code of the religion and it followers.
“Corruption is when you take resources and use it for private gain. Whether people see you or not, that is corruption. Whether they talk about it, it is corruption, so that is why I want to encourage all of us, I myself not excluded, that we need to work every single day in order to uphold the core principle of Islam in our society and in our country.”
Mr. Nyei paid homage to the administration of AME University for granting and authorizing his organization to operate on the university campus but called on his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters to try their best to play by the rules governing the institution if they must continue using the facility of the university.
“The fact that the administration of the AME University has now granted us the approval or the authorization to be able to operate on this campus as a legally registered organization, there are dos and don’ts, there are rules and regulations of this institution that we have to uphold, and trust me if other campus based organizations break the law they may go unpunished but if you break the law, you may not go unpunished.”
“You have to make sure you play by the rules if this institution must continue to allow us maintain or organization activities on this campus and you must always keep the administration informed in case you want to have a program on this campus because we have to play by the rule you must try to always organize such a timely program in the name of our organization.”
The AMEU-MSA was established in 2005 with two goals; one to bring all of the Muslim students of AMEU together and second to help Muslim students understand the true meaning and functions of their religion Islam on and off campus.
The association is headed by its President Hssan Twally, Vice President Soko Wiles, Secretary General Suliaman Bah, and Financial Secretary Zwannah Massaley.
Madusu Kanneh serves as treasure and Vamuyan M. Fofana as imam.