The Muslim Student Association Holds a Vigil for New Zealand Victims

By David Janes | Published by April 18, 2019

A vigil was held to commemorate the victims of the New Zealand attack, at 7 p.m. on March 26.

A gunman targeted two mosques opening fire and killing at least 50 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, while streaming it live on Facebook. The video streamed live, with the shooter arriving and eventually opening fire at the Noor Mosque. He then drove away and opened fire on several people walking the street before targeting his second location, Linwood mosque and opening fire.

Around twenty to thirty people quietly showed up to the vigil, which was held next to the clocktower next to the Miron Student Center, to showcase their support, as they all rallied together holding a candle.

“The meaning of a vigil refers to somebody or people staying up at night when they should be sleeping to commemorate or honor a certain cause.” said Rifa Shariff, communication major and President of the Muslim Student Association.

With the polarizing climate, the issue of safety was brought up at the vigil. Shariff finds safety to be an interesting issue, as she’s fortunate to not have grown up in an area feeling unsafe. However, it’s an ongoing problem that many experience.

“I can’t speak for other people but I know the other people feel that their safety has been violated multiple times like too many times honestly to argue even consider feeling safe, just generally,” said Shariff. “It depends on where you are….and what you have going on around you. But given the rhetoric, we should stop telling ourselves we are safe all the time.”

Muhammad Hassan, Advisor to the Muslim Student Association as well as Director of Nancy Thompson Library Learning Commons hopes students are able to understand and take away from the vigil that there’s peace and love all around and the shooter’s mission to spew hatred in the community failed.

“We’re all united together, it doesn’t matter what color, what race, what religion. We are all together,” said Hassan. “Everyone here are twenty different races, twenty different color, twenty different religion but we were all united, we were all together, it doesn’t matter who we are, what we are, we are one united nation and that’s all that matters.

According to the Kean Muslim Student Associations website, The MSA works to fulfill its role and purpose by acting as “the local representative body of the local Muslim student community.”

It also works to promote a friendly relationship between Muslim and Non-Muslim students on campus, and to strengthen the bonds between Muslim students of Kean University.

According to Shariff, the Muslim Student Association creates a community in bringing the local muslims together and also for anyone who’s interested in Muslims, and anyone who has questions about them. Plus they have a prayer room located in CAS Room 442, where they gather for their daily prayer as well as meetings.

The organization also serves as an opportunity for members to voice their opinion.

“We give them an opportunity, a space to voice their opinion, themselves, their safety, concerns, whatever it may be. The Muslim Student Association is more an outlet for that concern,” said Shariff.

Zaria Harrell, Sophomore Psychology major, was very emotional when hearing about the shootings in New Zealand.

“I remember hearing when it happened, and I thought that sounded completely crazy like who would do something like that, live-stream the whole thing like as if it was a video game,” said Harrell. “A lot of hate is happening in the world today and I am a firm believer that we should love all our neighbors, everyone who’s here with us and hearing that kind of hurt, that someone really hated a group of people that much that you wanted to take lives of children, someone who greeted you with open arms.”

Harrell is involved with the Black Leadership Union on campus, which is how she found out about the Vigil happening on campus. She found it to be immensely powerful and emotionally resonant.

“It shows how much solidarity matters and how much we need to be together right now instead of drifting apart and looking for reasons to look at each other as other when we’re all arguably as one big happy family in protecting one another,” said Harrell.

Hassan believes that people need to start becoming more positive about everything that will hopefully lead to positive and effective change.  “I think positive energy attracts positivity, so we’ll start seeing positive in other people instead of seeing negative, and the next person you’re standing with look at a positive of that person and I think that will bring a change in every single person,” said Hassan.

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