Getting Started

Islam Awareness Week was a project started in the early 1990’s by the Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada. Its aim was simple: to introduce Islam on a unified platform to all university and college campuses. During this week, each MSA offers information through a variety of resources and organizes activities in order to promote an understanding of Islamic principles and ideals. Information on Islam is presented in forms of topic tailored tables, free literature, and also through dialogue. Activities may include speeches given by prominenet Muslim figures, interactive games, movie showings, or a night of Islamic entertainment and traditional ethnic dinners. Islam Awareness Week seeks to promote a positive understanding of Islam throughout the university community and hopes to build and strengthen connections and relationships within the university community for the promotion and recognition of Muslim North Americans.

The Basics. A successful Islamic Awareness Week not only involves first understanding whom your target audience is, but also involves choosing which activities your audience would be interested in and thus attend. At the same time, MSA’s are encouraged to include the following into their IAW:

1. At least one presentation providing an introduction to Islam, which covers the basics of Islam: Tawheed, five pillars, prophethood, life of Muhammad (peace by upon him), etc.
2. A presentation related to this years theme of the Islamic Awareness Week
3. An exhibit with audio-visual displays about topics in Islam
4. At least one presentation that covers a specific issue related to Islam (e.g. Jesus in Islam, The Purpose of Life), or a global issue and how it relates to Islam and Muslims (e.g. Climate Change, War and Peace)

Committee Formation. Forming a solid plan is a critical part of this project. Delegation of tasks promotes a solid plan by allowing the work to be shared among all team members. Whether an MSA is large or small, the IAW project is meant to be divided into several important committees that are meant to be upheld to ensure the division of tasks. The remainder of this manual will identify committees needed, and will also provide a detailed description of roles, responsibilities, and suggestions for each committee. Committees include:

1. Logistics
2. Programs
3. Public Relations
4. Fundraising
5. Da'wah Training Force
6. Islamic Information
7. Arts
8. Entertainment and Games