About Us - Constitution & Bylaws

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Some Important Articles

Article II—Hallmarks

Section 1: Spiritual
The MSA-UMD is committed to inculcating Islamic Spiritual values in students.

Section 2: Educational
The MSA-UMD is committed to educating students about traditional, spiritual, social, historical, cultural, ethnic, racial, judicial, theological, political and contemporary issues. The MSA-UMD is also committed to fostering critical thinking skills from within an Islamic intellectual paradigm and providing an environment conducive to respectful intellectual exchange. Methods of achieving this educational objective shall be conducted through, yet not limited to, halaqat, lectures, classes, seminars, conferences, and congregational gatherings.

Section 3: Social
The MSA-UMD is committed to providing a social environment within the Muslim community consisting of people from different origins, nationalities, and cultures; serving the needs of students by the virtues of brotherhood and sisterhood. The MSA-UMD is committed to social engagement, interaction, bonding, exchange, and dialogue between the Muslim community and other Religious and Secular communities.

Section 4: Community
The MSA-UMD is committed to conducting altruistic social betterment and philanthropic activities and events throughout the greater community. The participation of the MSA-UMD in such community service projects shall be an actualization of the educational curriculum and Islamic principles of charity, neighbourliness, and service.

Section 5: Financial
The MSA-UMD is committed to generating funding necessary for achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. Successful financial management will facilitate providing the highest quality Spiritual, Educational, Social, and Community activities.

Article III—Mission and Purpose

Section 1: Mission Statement
The Muslim Students' Association at the University of Michigan Dearborn (MSA-UMD) is a non-profit, student based membership organization. Our national chapter is based in Washington, D.C., and we are affiliated with a network of more than 1000 affiliated MSA chapters across the United States and Canada. MSA was established to promote understanding and cooperation between members of the Muslim and non-Muslim communities on college campuses. We believe misconceptions and misrepresentations of Islam are most often the result of a lack of knowledge on the part of non-Muslims and reluctance on the part of Muslims to explain their faith. MSA is dedicated to representing an Islamic perspective through lectures, cultural and social activities, community celebrations and social betterment programs.

Article XIV—“Adam X” Clause

Section 1: MSA-UMD is open to anyone willing to abide by the constitution.

Section 2: At all times, members of MSA-UMD will maintain respect and proper etiquettes of interaction and communication, even in the event of conflict, disagreement, or organizational duress.

Section 3: Differences of theology and belief exist within the Sunni and Shi’a Muslim populations of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. While a level of respectful disagreement is to be expected, at no time will members of MSA-UMD countenance the specific condemnation of any theological tradition.

Section 4: In essence, all of humanity is the progeny of Adam, and we must strive to unite on our similarities, despite the presence of differences. MSA-UMD shall strive to create an environment in which the broadest collection of Muslim traditions can cooperate on events and activities that stress the unity of similarity, while mitigating the divisive potential of disagreements.