Muslim Students Association to bring world-famous Islamic guest speaker to campus
Yusuf Estes was raised in a Christian home and converted to Islam in 1991. Since then, he has traveled the world to speak about the purpose of life based on the ideals and fundamentals of the Islamic religion.
The world-renowned religious figure will speak at 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. in French Auditorium about the purpose of life.
The presentation was organized by the registered student organization, Muslim Students Association.
"MSA was inactive for several years, but we re-launched it last semester," said Mishari Alkhuwaiter, MSA president and a graduate student. "We weren’t able to do a lot last semester, but now that everything is in order, we were able to do much more, including bringing this speaker to campus."
Alkhuwaiter said people began to read about Estes and watch his YouTube videos, allowing his popularity to grow.
MSA and its 60 active members hope the presentation will bring education and inspiration to students and Mount Pleasant community members.
"We want people to learn more about the beliefs and culture of Islamic people," Alkhuwaiter said. "In the past two years, the number of Muslims here in Mount Pleasant, both students and faculty, have increased. It's important to raise awareness because it brings harmony among everyone."
Abdulkarim Althumayri, a graduate student and MSA event manager, said getting Estes to visit campus was not an easy task, but one the group felt was necessary for their cause.
"Our MSA team started preparing for this event and coordinating with Estes' secretary for more than three months, and it was very difficult to get him to come to CMU," Althumayri said. "(He is a very) influential religious figure that was named the number one Muslim personality of the year in 2012, and was the (United Nations) delegate to the World Peace Conference for religious leaders."
Above all, Estes represents the goals and beliefs of the group.
"Estes was chosen among several other potential speakers because we believed that he would be able to best serve the goals of the MSA," Althumayri said. "These goals are to raise awareness about Islam and bring more harmony and love between people of different beliefs"
