Being Muslim On Campus

Standing courtside at the Campus Recreation Center on a fall Friday night, Abdullah Abou Mahmoud wears a satisfied grin while watching fellow students hoist jump shots, scramble for rebounds and swap high fives. 

As president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA), Abou Mahmoud, a senior computer science major, was responsible for putting together the charity 3-on-3 basketball tournament that raised over $1,000 for Islamic Relief USA. He was happy with the turnout—about 50 players and friends cheering them on—but more so with the joy and camaraderie that he was witnessing on the court. It was the same positive energy that sparked his interest in UMass Lowell’s MSA nearly a decade ago. 

“It’s an organization that I wanted to be part of since middle school,” says Abou Mahmoud, who, as an eighth-grader at The Islamic Academy for Peace in Methuen, Massachusetts, was invited by the MSA to recite verses from the Quran at a community event at University Crossing. 

Now, Abou Mahmoud is leading one of the oldest student clubs on campus (founded in 1975). Under his leadership, it was named UML’s Student Organization of the Year in 2021-22. 

“It’s a privilege to be part of the organization, for sure,” he says. 

Coming out of the pandemic, Abou Mahmoud and the group’s executive board have been able to grow membership to around 120 students. They’ve done so by offering “something for everyone,” he says. There are the religious activities: Jumu’ah prayers on Fridays at Alumni Hall and Quran memorization programs on Tuesdays at University Crossing’s Serenity Center, which is also open for daily prayers and provides an ablution station—a sink used for “Wadu,” the ritual cleansing of head, arms and feet. 

There are also more social activities: the biweekly “MSA Circle,” where members can discuss whatever’s on their mind over slices of pizza, and general meetings with scavenger hunts and games of “Jeopardy!” For those who enjoy sports, there are meetings devoted to games of volleyball, badminton and Spikeball. 

“The philosophy is to build community,” Abou Mahmoud says. “College students don’t want to sit through another lecture, so we try to find a balance between the spiritual and social events.” 

Abou Mahmoud says there are “a lot of misconceptions about our religion,” particularly in the media post-9/11. While he has not encountered Islamophobia at UML (“Colleges are more of a melting pot; I think it’s more of a problem in high school or with much older people, for some reason”), he still thought it was important for the MSA to host an open house in the University Crossing lobby this fall at which members could answer questions that anyone may have about the Islamic faith. 

“A lot of the hate that comes from Islamophobia stems from ignorance. People just don’t know. And a lot of times, it’s hard to blame them when all they know are the bad things,” he says. “We want to counter that by clearing up any of those lingering stereotypes that people may have in the back of their minds.” 

What does Abou Mahmoud’s Muslim faith mean to him? 

“It has shaped who I am,” he says. “But it’s not just praying five times a day; it’s not just fasting. There are a lot of different things that we are required to do every day that are more of a lifestyle thing. For example, it’s a sin to be bad to your neighbor. And it’s a sin to be filthy; you have to be clean. We get ingrained from a young age to stay away from a lot of the bad things that are just normalized nowadays. We learn how you should treat children, how you should treat your elders, how you should treat women. 

“If I wasn’t part of the Muslim faith, I would not have the community that I have now,” he adds. “When you have something common that brings you together, you feel a lot more fulfilled. You feel more motivated. And that’s something that I have, both at the university and outside the university.” 

Abou Mahmoud already has a software engineering job waiting for him at Microsoft after graduation. He interned for the company in Seattle last summer and will work remotely from home in Dracut, Massachusetts. Before then, he wants to “build the tailwinds” that will help propel the MSA into the future. 

“For a lot of Muslims, a big part of the college decision is made from, ‘How is the MSA?’ So, for me to be in a position where I can help influence people joining this university, it definitely motivates me,” says Abou Mahmoud, who can’t imagine his UML experience without the MSA. 

“Would I have survived? Yes. But would I have been fulfilled? No. Fulfillment is something that we get from MSA.”