Johns Hopkins Graduate Muslim Students Association

Are your events open to non-JHU affiliates?
Yes, typically we are. This is especially true if we are organizing an excursion (i.e. an event that is taking place outside of campus such as a hike, visit to a mosque, picnic or some other variation). It is not rare to meet an individual at one of our events that is not affiliated with JHU. However, depending on the climate of COVID restrictions and our funding capability, we may not be able to always accommodate those outside of JHU at on-campus events. We also ask that those who are unaffiliated with JHU sign up for our events in advance and indicate their affiliation if possible to be permitted entry to our events.

Are your events open to JHU undergraduates?
Absolutely.

Are your events open to people of different faith backgrounds?
Yup! We especially have people from different faith backgrounds attend our Ramadan iftars. If you are attending one of our events alone and want some company/someone to help you out, feel free to let one of the organizers know. We generally plan to host interfaith events as well, so stay on the lookout for that.

What’s the JHU MA?
The Johns Hopkins University Muslim Association is the Muslim Student Association organized at the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. The Homewood campus largely consists of undergraduate students, as well as some graduate students. You can find more information on their website.

What’s the difference between this organization and the Johns Hopkins Muslim Association (JHU MA)?
Not much besides the fact that majority of the attendees and participants in the JHGMSA are either graduate students, medical professionals, health professionals or staff at the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore campus.  Both undergraduate and graduate students can attend either of the events hosted by the JHGMSA or JHU MA. The main difference is that the JHGMSA is geared more towards the medical campus and its demographic sways towards young and slightly older-aged professionals (no judgement there, but older is relative to the 22 year old writing this!).

How can I support the JHGMSA?
Attending our events is a great start. You can support by either volunteering to be directly involved in our executive board, assisting with on-site event logistics (sometimes we look for volunteers to hand out food, etc), providing feedback to our events, or you can get creative and even spearhead your own initiative which you can plan in conjunction with the JHGMSA by filling out this form here.

If you would like to financially contribute, you can always reach out to an executive board member or email jhgmsa-request@lists.jh.edu and directly contribute to an event. Alternatively, we often fundraise for Ramadan about a month or two in advance of its start and always welcome contributions to that. Email jhgmsa-request@lists.jh.edu to get a sense of how and when you can contribute!

I have a suggestion I would like to make. Who do I talk to?

Suggestions are always welcome and encouraged. Please avoid individually confronting an e-board member at an event and email jhgmsa-request@lists.jh.edu.

If you would like to introduce an initiative/project, you can do so by filling out the application form here and informing the student group alias at jhgmsa-request@lists.jh.edu. Feedback forms are also distributed from time-to-time, so stay on the lookout for that.

Do you host Ramadan iftars?
Yes, twice a week during the month of Ramadan. We also try to be collaborative in our Ramadan programming. We typically collaborate with the Muslim Students and Scholars Association from the University of Maryland Baltimore to arrange iftars that offer the opportunity for both communities to attend iftars from Mondays through Thursdays. We also collaborate with the undergraduate Muslim Association leading to more iftar options as well.

How many people attend your Ramadan iftars?
Somewhere in the range of 80-100 people depending on the day.

Do you offer Taraweeh?
We strive to offer taraweeh prayers with the help of community members that elect to take up the responsibility of leading prayer. This may change on a yearly basis.

Do you organize Eid events?
Typically, yes.

Is there organized transportation to mosques for Eid?
Unfortunately not due to the difficulty with organizing those logistics. Feel free to ask if anyone is taking a ride on the JHU Graduate MSA Whatsapp Group or offer a ride to those who may be interested.