Salam Al-Marayati, President of MPAC, reached the hearts of students at California State University Northridge's Muslim Students Association (MSA) on Wednesday, March 20th.  The room was filled with students who were engrossed as Al-Marayati showed them ways in which they could get more involved in addressing the issues that we face today. From immigration to poverty to domestic violence, these issues are important because they are violations of values we hold true to our hearts.

Al-Marayati seeks to empower and motivate people to be more involved in the issues that reflect their values. It is not about which issue is more important, but about discovering what is important to you and lending yourself to that cause.

"It just takes one person," Al-Marayati said. "And everyone has the potential to be that one person."

Al-Marayati's philosophy is that, even if only one person were to show up to talk with him, it would be a success. Even if a lot of people attend your event, that is irrelevant. That would only be a product of effective advertising and marketing strategy. The important part is the content and knowledge that people leave the event with will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

He told the story of MPAC and how, after 25 years, it has gotten to where it is today.

"This took years of cultivating relationships with people, organizations, and the government," Al-Marayati said. "It took years of showing up, being reliable and delivering upon other peoples' expectations to serve the community with our best effort. From that, MPAC is now the organization that we find today - able to flourish with efficiency and define itself as unique from other organizations." 

Al-Marayati gave a presentation displaying the different facets of MPAC: government, hollywood, media, and technology. Students left understanding MPAC's approach to the problems we face, such as Islamophobia, immigration, violence against women, and poverty.

"Instead of saying we are not extremists, or we are not like the Taliban, we show who we are. We positively and confidently help our community and let our actions speak for themselves. We don't protest what we are not. We live and walk what we are: ethical, peaceful, active, and compassionate." 

Towards the end of the event, Cherif Abou El Fadl, MPAC's Community Outreach Fellow, took the floor and spoke about his personal experience as an American Muslim. He shared his story about being born Muslim, growing up under a confused identity, and in the end finding the beauty of Islam for himself which inspired him to serve his community in whatever way possible.

"A bond was developed between us as individuals, I think," Abou El Fadl said. "This wasn't just a meeting of students and an organization. We recognized each other on another plane of reality: the reality of understanding the struggle against the self in seeing the big picture. The big picture is that we are one part of a whole and so we must sacrifice and always try to make our communities better in whatever way we can, big or small. When souls like that meet, they recognize each other just from the eyes. I felt it that night with everyone - the energy was amazing."

Soraya Ahyaudin
MPAC volunteer and event attendee