PRINTA conversation with Mahir Khan
Practicing Muslims appreciate services offered by Mizzou
Shengze Zhu
Mahir Khan serves as the vice president for MU's Muslim Student Organization where he is the logistics engine of the group.
September 15, 2011 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Mahir Khan, vice president of the Muslim Student Organization at MU, doesn’t want to brag, but he knows Middle Eastern food is quality munching. Especially when rice, Sriracha hot chili sauce and yogurt sauce are mixed together. The combination, according to Khan, is “the greatest thing ever.”
Khan and other practicing Muslims in Columbia participated in the spiritual fasting known as Ramadan that took place this year from sunrise to sunset July 31 to Aug. 29. MU dining halls catered to Muslim students beginning Aug. 15 by extending business hours and offering to-go boxes for meals that sometimes occurred as late as 8 p.m. During the rest of the year, Muslim students are also offered services and facilities from MU for daily prayer.
Muslims pray five times a day, and students can grab prayer rugs provided by MSO to pray in available spaces, such as empty study rooms. The A.P. Green Chapel, attached to Memorial Union, is also open for prayer.
Khan thinks Columbia is a receptive and welcoming place to call home. He and other American Muslims feel free to be themselves. Here, he can even order the No. 7 at the Olive Café on North Providence and experience full Sriracha satisfaction.
What are your responsibilities as vice president of MSO?
Basically, the duties are what the vice president wants to do. It’s how assertive you want to be and how much initiative you want to put forth. My duties this year are to deal with the logistics of events. Our president is a natural leader, and he’s good at getting people pumped up to do something, whereas I’m better at emailing 500 people and doing more logistical things.
How does MU accommodate Muslim practices?
I really think (the university) took initiative to give Muslim students and minority students the rights that are available to everybody else, specifically for the culture and activities that go along with being a Muslim. They are accommodating in terms of giving us facilities and the resources that we need. Muslims pray five times throughout the day, and a lot of the middle of the day prayers are during school hours, so it’s helpful that they open up the doors to facilities that let us pray.
MSO students aren’t always on campus, so how does the rest of the community provide services?
The mosque is especially helpful because it is naturally open to new Muslims and to people of other faiths to show them what Islam is about, which differs from community to community. But Columbia is really receptive to change, especially during Ramadan when we break the fast after sunset. A lot of the time, we don’t want to eat by ourselves because it’s lame, so the mosque had breakfast-dinners for every single night of the month for students.
Next year, will the university provide similar or additional services?
Well, the Muslim lunar calendar is 10 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, and every year Ramadan is pushed back 10 days. Next year, it’s probably going to end on the 20th of August, and we won’t require any of the services they provided this year. But that’s actually bad for the Muslim Student Organization because we use Ramadan as a time for unity and community, so we won’t have the advantages of using Ramadan to say, “Hey, let’s get together.”
How does MSO provide education to non-Muslim students?
There are two goals of our group. One is to build a sense of community among Muslims, and the second is to educate non-Muslims. This year’s Islam Awareness Week will be sometime during November, and we’ll have outreach events. Our goal isn’t to convert anybody, just to show that being American and being Muslim go hand in hand and that it’s awesome.
So where is the best spot for good Middle Eastern food in Columbia?
At the Olive Café. I’ve had everything, basically, but now I switch from the No. 7 and the No. 8. The No. 7 is just a gyro plate and the No. 8 is a Shish Tawook plate, which is grilled chicken in this incredible marinade. I think the thing with Muslim people is that eating food is really high on our priority list. I don’t want to brag or anything, but that’s why our food is so good.
With the passing of the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11, what is your perspective on being an American Muslim for the past 10 years?
I was in fifth grade when 9/11 happened, and I attended the Islam School of Columbia. I remember someone coming into our classroom and telling us that we should lock the mosque doors, and I remember being confused, thinking ‘what is going on?’ Since then, I’ve grown, and I now understand why people acted the way they did, Muslims and non-Muslims. Sept. 11 was caused by Muslim extremist groups with skewed ideas about what Islam is about. Since then, we’ve constantly had to prove most Muslims are not like that. That day changed the face of the nation. (Our generation) doesn’t know what it’s like to grow up without war.
Did MSO hold an event or meeting on Sept. 11?
MSO groups across the nation joined together for a “Being Better Together on 9/11” service event. We are planning on working at the food bank or teaming up with Sustain Mizzou to clean up campus.
