The Tenuous Relationship
between MSA and PSA
Columnist: Mohammed Abbas Husain
Age: 20
Attends: University of California, Berkeley
Major: Bio-engineering
Career goals: Biotechnology Industry
On November 19 of this year, the UC Berkeley
Pakistani Student Association (PSA) held its first official
event: an Eid-Diwali banquet, cosponsored by the Indian Student
Association.
Amongst a showing of about 100 students, less than a dozen
students from the South Asian-dominated Muslim Student Association
(MSA) attended the event, not one of whom was an MSA officer.
The stark showing of the MSA at this cultural gathering is
just one reflection of the tenuous relationship between the
culture-oriented PSA and the religion-oriented MSA. The question
arises: is it possible for an MSA and PSA to work synergistically?
Is the real or perceived conflict between the MSA and PSA
inherent in their organizational goals, or is it simply an
incidental conflict based upon misperceptions or prejudice
of each other?
At UC Berkeley, the MSA is an organization concerned fundamentally
with the religion of Islam: its teaching, practice, dissemination
and representation. Likewise, the PSA is an organization concerned
fundamentally with representing Pakistani culture: its language,
identity, religion, traditions, food and arts. On the surface,
it may seem that the MSA and PSA are fundamentally different
in orientation. While one organization defines itself in religious
terms, the other does so in cultural ones. Indeed this seems
to be the perception of many who attach themselves exclusively
to one organization. Some of those who are more “religiously
inclined” attach themselves to MSA and proclaim the
unimportance and potential divisiveness of culture. Others
who are perhaps less “religiously inclined” may
attach themselves to PSA and not see how Islam has any relevance
to their identities as Pakistanis.
This is the result of very narrow definitions of religion
and culture that we abide by in our community today. It is
true that religion and culture are different. Essential to
religion are its permanence and universality, whereas culture
is inherently particular and dynamic. However, religion manifests
itself in culture and cannot be found anywhere else but within
it. Cultural change is particularly influenced by religion
since it often sets boundaries for it, gives impetus to it,
or is the object of its resistance.
When viewed in this light, it becomes clear that both the
MSA and PSA are, at once, religious and cultural organizations.
In the case of the MSA, we can easily speak of an MSA culture
that includes within it a modified language, realm of concern
and set of social norms. The use of “Salaam ‘Alaykum”
as a farewell greeting, for example, in place of “Khuda
Hafiz” specifically among South Asian Muslims is one
example of an indentifiable MSA culture. Here, one cannot
explain this exchange of farewell greetings on purely religious
grounds since both expressions have explicit religious connotations
and have been used by Muslims in this manner for centuries.
As the MSA is unable to separate itself from culture, the
PSA is similarly unable to separate itself from Islam. The
PSA’s first event at Cal was an Eid banquet, which is
in dicative of the way in which Eid is simultaneously an Islamic
religious holiday and a Pakistani national holiday. And it
is no surprise that when speaking of Eid, it became necessary
to speak of Islam - religion informs culture and provides
meaning to it.
Ultimately, both organizations have significant reason to
work cooperatively. From the perspective of the MSA, it has
assigned itself the enormous task of representing the entire
Muslim Ummah. Part of this task involves representing the
regional and cultural diversity of Muslims and the issues
relevant to them. South Asian Muslims have some concerns unique
to them, including the fate of Hindu-Muslim relations, Shi’i-Sunni
sectarian violence and the issue of Kashmir. Cooperation with
the PSA would alleviate some of the burden off the MSA, while
allowing the MSA to better explore and represent the global
Ummah. The PSA’s interest to cooperate with the MSA
lies in its task to properly represent Islam as a significant
component of Pakistani culture. The MSA has the resources
and background to better explain and present the significance
of such things as Ramadan, Eid and Namaaz that are basic to
Islam and also part of our culture as Pakistanis.
One among the many possible events cosponsored by the MSA
and PSA could be a qawalli performance. The musical form of
the qawwal has a long history in the Indian subcontinent and
has to some extent entered into Pakistani popular culture.
The lyrics, however, are deeply religious, and an understanding
of them requires a background in both Islam and Sufism. Events
of this kind, tied to both religion and culture, provide an
opportunity for MSA-PSA cooperation and steps toward broader,
more inclusive and ultimately more successful campus organizations.
- husain1@berkeley.edu
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