Islamic Penn Venture

t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n

h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n

Building a Foundationfor the Future

Islamic PennVenture

Dear Friends of the Penn Muslim Students Association,As-Salaamu’Alaikum. As Muslim students at Penn, we areblessed with incredible opportunities to grow both academically andspiritually. Just as we continue to develop personally, the MSA contin-ues to evolve as well. We have become one of the most active studentgroups on campus, and we are now one of the most vibrant Muslimstudent organizations in the entire country. Alhamdulillah our recentaccomplishments are too many to list, but I’d like to share some high-lights.The MSA has recently seen its annual budget grow to $60,000,enabling us to provide daily iftaars during Ramadan, bring to campusprominent scholars, political leaders, and entertainers, and digitallyrecord events, including our weekly khutbahs. We are increasinglyparticipating in interfaith activities, such as a widely-publicized SpringBreak trip with Hillel to assist with Hurricane Katrina recovery eorts.Our involvement with the Penn community at large has helped us wina seat on the prestigious University Council, where we will be in regularcommunication with Penn’s administration. In 2005 we launched an alumni network that included anadvisory board of interested alumni to collaborate on long-terminitiatives with the MSA. This partnership has engendered a revisedConstitution, an Alumni Banquet, increased communication with theleadership of Masjid Al-Jamia, and a coordinated eort to envisionand work toward the MSA’s long term ambitions. Toward that end, weare especially pleased to announce that

we have recently come toan agreement with the University that will allow supporters of the Penn MSA to donate through the Penn Fund

, which presents aunique and exciting fundraising opportunity, as will be discussedfurther herein. The eorts of Muslims at Penn over the past 40 years have ledto this pivotal point in the growth of our organization. The MSA hasinvested its time and energy into helping develop the strong, active,and unied American Muslim community that tomorrow willdemand. We ask that you invest in our students today. Insha’Allah withyour help, the MSA will be well-equipped to work toward achieving itsgoals over the long term, while continuing to provide the religiousand social foundation of college life for the many Muslims who arriveat Penn for the rst time each year.

Yours in service,Ben Herzig (Benyamin Hasan), College ‘03Executive ChairPenn MSA Advisory Board

[ Letter from the Executive Chair ]

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D r . S e y ye d N a sr N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6

R e bu i ld ing Ne w O r leansMa rc h 2008

h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n

t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n

Having established a track record of organizational and operationalsuccess, the MSA is embarking on an ambitious journey to establish anendowment at the University of Pennsylvania that serves as anacademic, cultural, and religious resource center for Islam and Muslims

Key characteristics of the Fund:

•

Shari’ah Compliant*

• Tax-deductible• Earns Penn donation credit• Professionally managed

Here is how the Fund works:

• All donations are made payable to Penn (see details on pp. 5-6)• Penn places all donations in their general endowment fund, but

MSA contributions will be earmarked to the MSA account

• Penn’s investment management team has control over how the

funds are invested

• We have control over how we use the funds• We are able to withdraw earnings on our principal

[ What is the MSA Endowment Fund? ]

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[ What Do We Aspire to Achieve? ]

Raise awareness of the Penn MSA endowment

Currently, the vast majority of Penn Muslim alumni are unaware that

an MSA endowment exists. By raising awareness we aim to channelexisting donations from Muslim alumni to Penn to the MSA earmark

and at the same time attract new members to donate.

Raise $500,000 in ve years to achieve our near-term goals:

• Establish a permanent Muslim Chaplain position on-campus• Create a scholarship for exceptionally gifted and ﬁnancially

constrained Muslim students to attend Penn

Raise $10-$15 million over the next fteen years to achieve our longer-term aspirations:

•

Establish a permanent space on-campus that serves as a

religious, cultural, and academic “home” for the Philadelphiacommunity to learn about Islam

• Fund an academic program (e.g., a visiting scholars program)

to educate the community on critical Islamic topics

• Establish Muslim housing and dining halls

* We worked closely with several leading scholars in Islamic Finance, most notably HarvardIslamic Society Chaplain Sheikh Taha Abdul Basser, and have received oﬃcial certiﬁcation thatdonating to the MSA Endowment Fund is shari’ah-approved. To learn more about the religio-

legal opinion and our shari’ah advisors please visit our website: http://www.upennmsa.org.

h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n

t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n t h e m u s l i m s t u d e n t s a s s o c i a t i o n @ p e n n