Coffeehouse: Islamic Expressions fills Student Commons

An estimated 200 students filled the University Student Commons’ ballrooms last Friday for the fourth annual Coffeehouse: Islamic Expressions, which the Muslim Student Association sponsored to kick off the first-ever Islam Awareness Month.

The crowd-consisting of VCU students as well as students from universities such as George Washington University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia-watched and listened to poetry recitations and musical performances that varied in genre from hip-hop to traditional Arab hymn as they snacked on coffee and donuts-an allusion to the event’s name.

In addition to live poetry and music, the event featured the top three films from the MSA’s first Short Film Competition and a gallery with more than 30 pieces of student artwork.

Bilal Aslam, chair of the MSA’s Coffeehouse Committee, said the group’s goal was to facilitate a positive environment for individuals to express their different talents.

Together, the artists and performers articulated what he called an “expression of Islam.”

The MSA, Bilal said, focuses primarily on displaying the talents of VCU students and other individuals from the Richmond area to show others what the local Muslim community offers creatively.

Each year, however, the organization invites at least one special out-of-town guest.

This year’s guest featured poet Rima Chaudry of the nationally recognized poetry collective “Calligraphy of Thought” based in Oakland, Calif.

In a soft but commanding voice, Chaudry spoke of her interracial identity in “Kashmir” and made scathing indictments about corporate crime in “Capitalism.”

Similarly, other performers touched upon political and social issues, too.

Muhammad Abdus-Sabur, a rapper whose stage name is Mo’Boogie, referenced shootings in the Richmond area in his song “Show Me Love,” while Muhammad Ahmed, a reggae-style rapper and poet whose stage name is MOT, decried genocide in his native Sudan.

Other work involved more light-hearted pieces.

Two comedic films, “Prove Yourself” and “The Library”-both winners in the MSA’s Short Film Competition-had the festive crowd roaring with laughter.

“Prove Yourself,” which sophomore Tayeeb Faruk directed, parodied rapper Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” music video. Junior Safi Majid’s “The Library” followed a group of students who encounter comedic situations one day while studying in the James Branch Cabell Library.

Aslam, a junior mechanical engineering major, said the Coffeehouse Committee tried to obtain as many diverse performers as possible this year to make the event more remarkable than past ones.

Omar Siddique, MSA’s vice president, said the wide variety of performers and artists made this year’s Coffeehouse a success.

“Each year, we’ve had more diversity,” said Siddique, a senior chemical engineering major. “As a result, (Coffeehouse) has gotten bigger and bigger.”

Aslam said Coffeehouse: Islamic Expressions-which is the MSA’s largest annual activity second to the Fast-a-Thon during the fall semester-has grown so much since it first began that the group has made it a one-time event in the spring. In past years the organization also presented it to students in the fall.

Without the pressure of having to stage Coffeehouse twice during the academic year, Aslam said the MSA can devote more money and resources to the event than it did in the past.

As big and popular as it has become, Coffeehouse: Islamic Expressions is no longer just a VCU operation.

“The great thing is that a lot of students who come [to Coffeehouse] from different universities go back to where they’re from and start similar events,” he said.

Tariq Aljohar, a first-year VCU student from Saudi Arabia, said Coffeehouse was a new experience for him and it offered him a unique opportunity to meet Muslims and other students from different places.

“Being from Saudi Arabia, I could compare Islamic activities from here and there,” he said. “It’s been a good chance to meet brothers, which we call each other, and get to know one another.”

As attendants drew raffle tickets for prizes, clapped hands to music and took photographs with each other, the audience could surmise that the MSA aimed to create a fun, social atmosphere with Coffeehouse: Islamic Expressions.

But Siddique said as important as the social interaction was, this Coffeehouse-and Islam Awareness Month, which expanded from Islam Awareness Week-had higher priorities, especially with recent media saturation of Islamic topics. To him and MSA members, awareness is most important.

“Islam is very relevant to today’s time,” Siddique said. “It’s the fastest growing religion in America.

“People have questions about why it’s growing so fast. We want to help answer them.”