Every fall, the College of William and Mary’s Muslim Student Association partakes in Charity Week, a fundraising campaign to support children in need across the globe. The Charity Banquet concludes a week of fundraising with food, student speakers and live performances.
“We’ve been fundraising for countries around the world in need including orphans and water efforts in countries like Africa and Asia,” MSA co-president Safaa Taraouat ’28 said. “The purpose is just made to unite and come together for these people in need and just to raise money for those efforts. In Islam, our faith, it’s very important to give charity.”
This year’s theme is “Waves of Unity,” emphasizing a mission to unite the Muslim community through charity.
“One of our five pillars of Islam is zakat, which means charity,” co-president Aleezay Malik ’27 said. “It’s the obligation of every Muslim to partake in charity at one point in their life. And not only that, but as Muslims, we should be conscious about helping people in need whenever we can because we live a very fortunate life, alhamdulillah. We go to school, a very expensive school in the United States. So just being conscious of how other people are living and helping them out any way we can.”
The donations from the week’s events and the Charity Banquet will be allocated to countries across the globe.
“The money will be donated through Islamic Relief,” Taraouat said. “Islamic Relief goes to countries in South Asia and Africa, Palestine, just countries in need, whether that be relief efforts or clean water efforts.”
The crises across the Middle East — specifically Palestine and Sudan — played a huge role in impacting attendees. Lema Suleiman ’29, a Palestinian member of MSA, attended this event not only for the social aspect, but also to show solidarity.
“The crisis in Palestine and Sudan definitely influenced my decision to attend the MSA Charity Banquet,” she said. “It is important that people contribute as much as they can to support the people going through many injustices. Especially as a Palestinian, it is vital to me to stand up and show out for those communities.”
The Charity Banquet welcomes people of all backgrounds to eat, listen and socialize. Muslim or not, the doors are open to everyone.
“It’s open to the entire William and Mary community just to get involved,” Taraouat said. “We encourage everybody, no matter your background, affiliation, just to get involved.”
Israt Farah ’27, an attendee at the banquet, touched on the diversity at the event.
“It wasn’t just Muslim people here today, or Middle Eastern people,” she said.
Though not a member of MSA, Braeden Dobson ’28 attended the Charity Banquet to learn more about the community.
“You can get to learn about people, their customs, their culture, a different way of thinking,” Dobson said.
For many MSA members, on the other hand, the event helped them feel more connected to students with shared and diverse backgrounds.
“The MSA Charity Banquet makes me feel hopeful seeing so many people from different backgrounds join together to support an important cause,” Suleiman said. “It connects me to the Muslim community because it is our duty as Muslims to be the voice of the Ummah that’s hurting. Seeing other Muslims uniting together for that duty brought me closer to them and Islam.”
This event provides an opportunity to spread awareness regarding Islamic culture.
“Some people, when they’re ignorant of other people’s cultures, they fear it,” Dobson said. “And when you get rid of ignorance, you get rid of fear and hate and all that.”
Although the banquet was officially hosted by MSA, the event involved many other student organizations. Members from Students for Justice in Palestine, Middle Eastern Student Association and African Cultural Society each gave speeches.
“The speeches made me feel empowered and hopeful,” Suleiman said. “It was an important reminder that I can support the communities going through crises even if I’m far away.”
In addition to the speeches, the event showcased performances from the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble. Farah came to the event to support a friend who is in the ensemble.
“My favorite part about this event was definitely hanging out with my friends and seeing everyone have fun together, taking pictures, food,” she said.
The ensemble’s performance began with a famous song of which they performed three linguistic versions: Turkish, Arabic and Greek.
“I liked listening to the music, especially the first song that the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble played where it showed how the song sort of traveled through the different nations and different languages, and it was pretty interesting to hear each culture’s rendition of the song,” Dobson said.
For some Middle Eastern attendees, the ensemble’s performance transported them back home. Suleiman, who lived in Palestine, especially felt this connection.
“The music performance made me feel at home,” said Suleiman. “The instrumental tunes and vocals reminded me of the music my family would play in the mornings back in Palestine.”
The mission of this banquet, according to co-presidents Taraouat and Malik, was to leave attendees with a feeling of gratitude and generosity. Taraouat elaborated what she hoped attendees would take away.
“Always give back when you can,” Taraouat said. “To be grateful for the things that they do have and be conscious of those who aren’t as privileged as you, and just making sure to give back to communities in need.”
