Family: Reconnecting our Hearts to Home

“The best of you are those who are best to their families.”
- Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

Sometimes the stories of our homes are not perfect. Some of us can connect well with strangers yet have distant relationships with our fathers. We can fall in love with movie stars but resent our own mothers. We can be polite all day at school and still come home angry and abusive. It’s as though we’ve reserved our best for everywhere but home–as though the role of family in our lives has been outsourced to others.

“The role of family.” What does this phrase even mean? Throughout history and between lands, a family’s role has been defined differently, yet somehow its concept remains universal and valuable. Why? What exactly do we expect family to be for us? Some say family is meant to provide us a place to call home and a place to belong. Others may think it is more like a nursery, where we grow into adults and then go our separate ways. Some only turn to family in times of need, and yet others consider it a foundational building block of society. What do you think are the ideals of family, and why? What do different cultures and religions have to say on the topic, and how do their ideas compare or contrast with those of Islam?

Having considered these ideals, what are our families really like? Who do we consider to be family, and what is our relationship with these family members? Do they have rights upon us? Do we honor them? Do we have responsibilities towards them? Do we uphold them? Are there any differences between our ideals and our realities? If so, what can we do to bridge those gaps?

We challenge you to take a deeper look into the North American Muslim community and analyze the various concepts surrounding this theme. Be creative! Projects and submissions with the most creativity and insight will receive the highest points. Remember, this theme will encompass all of the MIST competitions and workshops at both the regional and national levels. If you have any questions regarding this theme or anything else MIST-related, please do not hesitate to contact us!

(Note: Soccer is a Boston/Toronto-exclusive competition and will not be held at Nationals.)

2D Islamic Art:
1. Nadeen Abu Hasan (iSlam)
2. Mustapha Javeed (West Boylston Lions)
3. Hoda Yehia (Lex Fusion)
4. Fatima Vakil (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
5. Kanza Hasnain (Team Al-Ufuq)

3D Islamic Art:
1. Nourhun Agha (Moozlums)
2. Sarah Sanousi (Uber Noobers)
3. farida aboulezz (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
4. Hira Unar (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
5. Abrar Ahmed (The outsiders)

Photography:
1. Syifa F. Rahmadianputri (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
2. Huda Alawa (Moozlums)
3. Amina Zekeria (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
4. Hannah Zawia (The outsiders)
5. Noah Norbash (iSlam)

Digital Computer Art:
1. Muhammad Ahmed (Team Al-Ufuq)
2. Nour Eldien Eldifrawy (Uber Noobers)
3. Suhail Omar (Al-Rahmah)
4. Adam Khafif (Moozlums)
5. Zainab Kazmi (The outsiders)

Fashion Design:
1. yasmene badereldin (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
2. Basmah El-Faramawi (Al-Rahmah)
3. Zara Khan (The outsiders)
4. Ayni Nur (Uber Noobers)
5. Yasmeen Aldabagh (Moozlums)

MSA/Islamic Club Website:
1. The outsiders
2. Lex Fusion
3. Uber Noobers
4. Fareeg Al-Fidei

Test One:
1. Omayr Abdelgany (Uber Noobers)
2. Salman Mirza (Al-Rahmah)
3. Salma Yehia (Lex Fusion)
4. Fatima Akmal (Lex Fusion)
5. Nabeel Nissar (Al-Rahmah)

Test Two:
1. Nour Eldien Eldifrawy (Uber Noobers)
2. Aliya Moreira (iSlam)
3. Mustapha Mahmood (Fareeg Al-Fidei)
4. kulan abdullahi (Uber Noobers)
5. Huda Alawa (Moozlums)

Test Three:
1. Anam Ali (Al-Rahmah)
2. Mariya Ghori (Uber Noobers)
3. Maleeha Shaikh (Moozlums)
4. Aqid Nasim (Al-Rahmah)
5. Wafaa Satti (Fareeg Al-Fidei)

Test Four:
1. Suzanne Hishmeh (Moozlums)
2. Syed Amir Ali (Al-Rahmah)
3. Amina Fahmy (Uber Noobers)
4. nora bounar (Al-Rahmah)
5. Niama Senhaj (The outsiders)

Tafseer Test:
1. Hajira Shamsi (Dara Salaam)
2. Nasser Bumpus (Uber Noobers)
3. Kiran Raza (Dara Salaam)
4. Hoda Yehia (Lex Fusion)
5. Basmah El-Faramawi (Al-Rahmah)

Tajweed:
Boys:
1. Sammy Mousa
2. Mamadou Diallo
3. Ibrahim Jalloh
4. Sami Halloul
5. Danyal Unar
Girls:
1. Laila Aryan
2. Rewana Khedr
3. Afnan Nehela
4. Maria Ijaz

Memorization:
Boys:
1. Omar Ibrahim
2. Aamir Moghni
3. Masihuddin Ahmed
4. Abubaker Elsheikh
5. Yusuf Osman
Girls:
1. Aram Monawar
2. Nadhira Muhammed
3. Noor Adra

Prepared Essay:
1. Jon Syed (Dara Salaam)
2. Nabeel Hussain (iSlam)
3. Mehwish Hussain (Al-Rahmah)
4. Sarah Sanousi (Uber Noobers)
5. Muriha Ramzinali (Dara Salaam)

Extemporaneous Essay:
1. Syed Amir Ali (Al-Rahmah)
2. Nadeen Abu Hasan (iSlam)
3. Mariya Ghori (Uber Noobers)
4. Sherif Atia (Uber Noobers)
5. Abdelhak Belatreche (Moozlums)

Original Oratory :
1. Masihuddin Ahmed (Uber Noobers)
2. Nour Eldien Eldifrawy (Uber Noobers)
3. Usman Mirza (Al-Rahmah)
4. Ihab Mohamed (Fareeg Al-Fidei)

Extemporaneous Speaking:
1. Hannah Zawia (The outsiders)
2. Marwa N. Syed (Moozlums)
3. Asad Khimani (iSlam)
4. Noah Norbash (iSlam)
5. Amira Farrag (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)

Short Fictional Story:
1. Iman Saeed (Team Al-Ufuq)
2. Emma Osmundson (The outsiders)
3. Hajira Shamsi (Dara Salaam)
4. Afnan Nehela (Uber Noobers)
5. Amal Saeed (Team Al-Ufuq)

Children’s Book:
1. Sara Alfaqeeh (Uber Noobers)
2. Farah Shaikh (Moozlums)
3. Hira Unar (Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs)
4. Omer Elraya (Team Al-Ufuq)
5. Noor Adra (Uber Noobers)

Poetry Literature:
1. habibah farh (Uber Noobers)
2. Sarah Ijaz (Team Al-Ufuq)
3. Raabia Malik (Team Al-Ufuq)
4. Fatima Akmal (Lex Fusion)
5. Mustapha Javeed (West Boylston Lions)

Poetry Spoken Word:
1. Omaima Afzaal (iSlam)
2. Mohamed Hassan (Uber Noobers)
3. Aminah Diallo (Al-Rahmah)
4. Yusra Khadar (Al-Rahmah)
5. Maged Hamdy (The outsiders)

Islamic Scholastic Bowl:
1. Uber Noobers
2. iSlam
3. The Outsiders
4. Lex Fusion
5. Moozlums

Debate:
1. Hichem Hadjeres (Moozlums)
2. Amina Fahmy (Uber Noobers)
3. Sarah Ijaz (Team Al-Ufuq)
4. Afsha Rindnai (Dara Salaam)
5. Nada Mustafa (The outsiders)

Math Olympics:
1. Walid Halty (Moozlums)
2. Azeem Khan (iSlam)
3. Debbie Tschong (Lex Fusion)
4. Nabeel Hussain (iSlam)
5. Aashar Raza (Dara Salaam)

Community Service Project:
1. Uber Noobers
2. Fareeg Al-Fidei
3. Al-Rahmah

Short Film:
1. The outsiders
2. Lex Fusion
3. Moozlums
4. Fareeg Al-Fidei
5. Dara Salaam

MSA/ Islamic Club Scrapbook:
1. Moozlums
2. Team Al-Ufuq
3. Uber Noobers
4. Lex Fusion
5. Al-Rahmah

MSA/ Islamic Club Newsletter:
1. Al-Rahmah
2. Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs
3. Uber Noobers

Research Methods:
1. Uber Noobers

Business Venture:
1. Al-Rahmah
2. Uber Noobers
3. Moozlums

Nasheed/Rap:
Boys:
1. Uber Noobers
2. Fareeg Al-Fidei
3. iSlam
4. Al-Rahmah
5. Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs
Girls:
1. Uber Noobers
2. The Outsiders
3. Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs
4. Moozlums
5. Dara Salaam

Improv:
Boys:
1. The outsiders
2. Moozlums
3. Uber Noobers
Girls:
1. Uber Noobers
2. Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs
3. The outsiders
4. iSlam
5. Al-Rahmah

Basketball:
Boys:
1. Uber Noobers
2. Al-Rahmah
3. The outsiders
4. Team Al-Ufuq
5. iSlam
Girls:
1. Uber Noobers
2. The outsiders
3. Al-Rahmah
4. Dara Salaam
5. Team Al-Ufuq

Soccer: (Note: Soccer is a Boston/Toronto-exclusive competition and will not be held at Nationals.)
Boys:
1. Moozlums
2. Uber Noobers
Girls:
1. Moozlums
2. Uber Noobers
3. Woosta Sistahs ft. The Brothahs

See this Facebook event for more info.

To register your team, send the following information to mistBoston -at- gmail -dot- com.
Team Name:
High School/Islamic School Name:
School Address: (we only need this if your school did NOT participate in MIST last year)
School Phone: (we only need this if your school did NOT participate in MIST last year)
Coach Name:
Coach Phone:
Coach Email:
Student Registrar Name: (In charge of team’s registration)
Student Registrar Email:

But if you are done with registration, here are a couple of things you
can get started on:

1. Preparing for Your Competitions

The sooner you get started, the better the final result! Don’t wait
till the last minute! Strive for excellence and remember the hadith of
the Prophet (peace upon him): “Indeed Allah loves that if one of you
does an action, he perfects it [i.e., does it with thoroughness].”

Make sure to read the rules for your competition carefully and don’t
be shy to ask for help if you don’t understand something:

http://www.getmistified.com/competitions/

If you are in the Scholastic Bowl, all of the questions (except for
current events) come from these 5 packets, so start studying them if
you haven’t already: http://www.getmistified.com/competitions/bracket-competitions/#topics

2. Bonus Opportunities

There will be some bonus opportunities that you can prepare for
beforehand and some that will be announced on the first day of MIST.
For now, here are two things teams can start working on in order to
earn bonus points:

A. Team Outfits- Coordinate team dress for the first day of MIST!
(Second day, wear business casual).

B. Team Banner/Poster- Make a team banner/poster. The bigger and
better, the more bonus points!

When you’re signing up for what MIST competitions to compete in, keep this simple fact in mind: The more competitions you sign up for, the more opportunities you and your team will have for racking up points. And the more points you have, the higher the chance you’ll have of winning prizes and the higher the chance your team will have of winning the coveted MIST Boston Trophy!!!

So, don’t be a slacker! Try to do one event in as many of the 6 categories as you can (i.e., Arts, Writing/Oratory, Knowledge, Group Project, Brackets, and Sports)!

______________________________________

A common myth about MIST is that bigger teams automatically win and that there is no chance for smaller teams to compete. This is not true! Smaller teams have just as much opportunity to win as larger teams.

Don’t believe me? Consider this:

Suppose you have one team with 10 students and one team with 30. Let’s also suppose that there are 5 categories and 5 competitions in each category (to simplify things). That’s a total of 25 competitions.

Now, each team can have a max of 2 students in any given competition. So, that’s a total of 50 opportunities to get points. Each student can only compete in 1 competition per category. So, there is only a maximum of 10 students per team who can compete in a given category, e.g., the Arts category. So, you can have 2 ppl in 2D, 2 ppl in 3D, 2 ppl in Fashion Design, etc. That equals 10 students total from a team in that category.

So, the 10 person team can fill up that category just as much as the 30 person team can. And if they fill up every category, all things being equal, they have just as much a chance as racking up points as the 30 person team.

So, it’s all a matter of will: Who wants to win it more!

The truth is, of those 50 scoring opportunities, it is not smart for teams not to fill up those spots. In other words, teams need to take advantage of the opportunities in order to win and not doing so greatly hinders their chances of winning.

If you didn’t quite catch all that, it’s ok. The bottom line is: Don’t be a slacker!

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t worry. It will often help to ask a fellow team mate if you don’t understand something. You can also ask your team’s registrar or coach.

If no one on your team knows the answer, you can always send us an email at mistBoston -at- gmail -dot- com and we’ll be sure to respond to you as soon as possible.

This is for encouragement...

Registration is open for all the teams that sent us their information. Contact your team registrar in order to be added to the team roster and be permitted to register.

If you or someone you know still wants to form a team, there is still time!!!

Please email the following information to mistBoston -at- gmail -dot- com:

Team Name:
High School/Islamic School Name:
School Address:
School Phone:
Coach Name:
Coach Phone:
Coach Email:
Student Registrar Name: (In charge of team’s registration)
Student Registrar Email:

Thanks!

I hope you are all excited for MIST this year! Just a few things before we can get started. We need one person from every team to send in the following information to mistboston -at- gmail -dot- com:

• Team Name
• High School/Islamic School Name
• High School/Islamic School Address
• High School/Islamic School Phone
• Coach Name
• Coach Email Address
• Coach Phone
• Student Registrar Name (1 student from the team who is in charge of registration for the team)
• Student Registrar Email Address

If everyone can send this information soon it would be great, and we hope to see you all soon inshallah.

Thank you,

MIST Boston

April 16-17 @ Boston University

Online Registration will be open soon. More information on that forthcoming!

To stay up to date on all the latest MIST Boston info, check this website and join our announcement email list. All coaches, students, teachers, parents, and anyone else involved with MIST Boston are welcome and encouraged to join our email list, which can be found here: http://groups.google.com/group/mist-boston/about

The weekend of April 3rd-4th, we will insha’Allah be holding the third annual Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament (MIST) at Harvard University. At last year’s MIST, more than a hundred high school students from the greater Boston area participated, competing in various academic events, attending workshops, and having lots of fun! This year, we are expecting an even higher turnout.

We will need volunteers to help make MIST run as smoothly as possible. We need people to judge competitions, coordinate food, supervise, take photographs, referee sports, coordinate games, etc. Volunteering takes no prior experience, and is very rewarding! We need volunteers to help judge in the many competitions. The list of the competitions can be found on http://www.getmistified.com/competitions/

The Arts, Group, and Bracket Competitions (Debate and Scholastic Bowl) require multiple judges while other test-taking competitions (ex: Math Olympics) require 1-2 volunteers each to proctor the tests. We also need multiple volunteers to help ref the Brothers and Sisters Basketball and Soccer Competitions.

MIST will run from 9:00am to 8:00pm on Friday April 3rd and 8:00am-9pm on Saturday,April 4th. If you are available at any of these times and would like to help out with any of the above mentioned tasks or anything else, please email me at abdelkader.o@neu.edu

And please feel free to forward this email widely to your friends, colleagues, MSAs, etc.

JazakumAllahu khair!
Omar